Terminatrix
by Dealio
Summary: What extremes will Logan go to to save Max after she is recaptured? What hapeens when he meets another X-5 that wants to help him bring down Manticore just as munch as he does? Voted the best story your not reading, by me of course.
1. Beginings

New moon rising  
  
Manticore:  
  
Mademe X entered a room filled with teenagers. "So these are the X-6's?" She asked a general who was in charge of them.  
  
"Yes," the general said. "They are all about seventeen."  
  
"Good," Mademe X said. "They will be ready when the time is right?"  
  
"Yes," The general said.  
  
Logan's apartment:  
  
Max brings two plates over to the dinner table. "So chicken and rice isnt so bad?"  
  
Logan smiled, "Not at all," he said. "I have been waiting to taste something you've cooked for so long."  
  
"Well if you were expecting something from KFC then sorry," Max smiled.   
  
"Anything you cook is sure to be great," Logan said.   
  
"Thanks," Max said. "But I dont think so,"  
  
They glaze into each others eyes. They then lean in closer. Lips two inches apart. The phone rings. "I'll get it," Logan said.  
  
"Great," Max said. "I'll get it." She ran to the phone and answered. "It's for you,"  
  
"Thanks," Logan said as Max passed him the phone. "Uh-huh, Right now. Ok,"  
  
He hung up the phone. "Hot run?" Max asked.  
  
"Yeah," Logan said. "It can wait, after dinner,"  
  
Max smiled, "You sure?"  
  
"Yeah,"   
  
"Ok," Max said. "Let's eat!"  
  
A man burts through the door. "Max!"  
  
Max stands up. "Krit?"  
  
"Max," You gotta come with me!." Krit said.  
  
"Why what happened?" She asked glazing down at his shirt filled with blood.  
  
"It's Zack," Krit said. "Manticore has him back,"  
  
"No, not again." Max said.  
  
"We are going to rescue him," Krit said. "Zack gave me your adress. Are you comming?"  
  
"When?" Max asked  
  
"Tomorrow night," Krit said.  
  
"Yes," Max said.  
  
"Be ready," Krit said.   
  
"I will be," Max said.   
  
Krit turned and left out. "See you later, big sis."  
  
"See ya, little brother." Max said.  
  
Manticore:  
  
"We have found the X-5 we were looking for." The general said.  
  
"The boy or the girl?" Mademe X asked.  
  
"The boy," The general said.  
  
"Find me the girl," Mademe X said. "Start the procedure on the boy." She said.  
  
Another soilder rushed in. "We'eve found the girl,"  
  
"Well you people do work fast," Mademe X said. "Where is she?"  
  
"Headed for work" The soilder said. "We wont be able to get her without people noticing us,"  
  
"Then terminate everyone else, but bring the girl!" Mademe X said.  
  
"Yes," the soilder said heading out.  
  
Jam pony:  
  
"Max, hot run!" Normal said tossing her a packkage.  
  
"Ok," Max said going to her locker. "Hey, boo"  
  
"Hey, sorry about the hot water." Original cindy said.  
  
"No big dealio," Max said. "You up for crash tonight?"  
  
The walls collapsed. Fire exploded everywhere. "Get down!" Max screamed. Windows burst outward. Lockers fell. Max covered Orignal Cindy.  
  
Jma pony was destroyed....TO BE CONTINUED. 


	2. Going gets good

Emotion  
  
Jam pony:  
  
Soilders entered the destroyed building for Max. She was wide awake. They thought that she was going to be asleep. Or knocked out. They were wrong. Max got up. "Original Cindy are you ok?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, boo. What the hell was that?" Original Cindy asked.  
  
"Dunno," Max said. "Get down." She said as she saw three soilders come her way.  
  
"You," One soilder asked Max. "Your coming with me."  
  
"Yeah right." Max said jumping up unleashing a kick to the mans stomach knocking him down. The other two soilders shot out tasers at her. She fell to the ground. Original Cindy got a piece of debris and slammed it into the mans head knocking him out.  
  
Max kicked another in his head. "Let's blaze."  
  
Cindy and Max headed out. Soilders were everywhere. Max and Cindy ducked under a truck. "Hold onto the little bars. Just until we are scott free from these assholes."  
  
Cindy nodded and held on. They were about a mile away from Jam pony.  
  
"Let go," Max said as Cindy and her fell off.  
  
"What about everyone else?" Cindy asked. "Sketchy, Normal, Herbal..."  
  
"I dunno." Max said.  
  
"What was that all about, anyway?" Cindy asked.  
  
"I really dont know. Manticore." Max said. "Logan's lets go."  
  
"Ok," Cindy said.  
  
Logan's aparment:  
  
"So they blew up your job?" Logan said.  
  
"Yeah," Max said.  
  
"Well, you should be getting ready for Krit." Logan said.  
  
"Krit?" Original Cindy asked.  
  
"My little brother. They got Zack. And I am going to help." Max said. "Tonight."  
  
Manticore:  
  
Lydecker entered Mademe X's office.   
  
"X," Lydecker said.  
  
"Deck," Mademe X said, "What do you want?"  
  
"I dont know what type of games your playing but something big is about to go down." Lydecker said. "Between you and me. You arent going to kill any of my X-5's. My kids."  
  
"And your so sure about that?" Mademe X said.  
  
"Yeah I'm sure." Lydecker said.  
  
"Well we might just have to terminate you then." Mademe X said.  
  
"I will find a way to warn my kids." Lydecker said.  
  
Television screens across America:  
  
This is Eye's only. This is a message going out to Manticore. You were wrong for what you did today and you will be stopped. You wont get any of the X-5's."  
  
Logan's aparment:  
  
"Thanks," Max said.  
  
"No problem," Logan said.  
  
"Original Cindy you should stay here until this thing is over." Max said.  
  
"Ok, but be careful, boo" Original Cindy said.  
  
"I will." Max promised.  
  
Krit walked through the door. "Ready?"  
  
"Yeah," Max said. Krit walked out.  
  
Max looked into Logan's eyes. She tilted in for a kiss. "Max!" Krit screamed.  
  
"Here I come," Max said getting up. "See ya,"  
  
Streets of Seattle:  
  
"Where we headed?" Max asked.  
  
"Manticore," Krit said.  
  
They got on her motorcycle and were on their way. "We are not gonna make it their tonight." Max screamed.  
  
"We will stop at a motel on our way," Krit said.  
  
Reds headquaters:  
  
"So Lydecker we can get her back for you," Mike said.  
  
"How?"Lydecker asked.  
  
"She has one of our implants in her head and it has some type of alloy that is traceable." Mike said.  
  
"Why would she use one?" Lydecker asked.  
  
"Long story," Mike said. "But do you want our help?"  
  
"Yeah," Lydecker said.  
  
Motel:  
  
Max laid in the bed couldnt sleep. "So where were you?"  
  
Krit sat up. "When I escaped I went to Baltimore."  
  
"Land of drugs and death. Why?" Max asked.  
  
"It was a place that needed help and since I was all helpy and stuff. I went."Krit said.  
  
"How did Zack get taken back?" Max asked.  
  
"He met up with me and we were trying to help Syl. And they were their ready to get him. But me and her got away.They will be meeting up with us in a few days." Krit said.  
  
Their was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Max said.  
  
She went to the door and opened it. Their was Lydecker standing their alone."Hey,"  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Max asked as Krit got ready to attack.   
  
"I need help," Lydecker said.  
  
"Like damn you do," Krit said lunging in for him.  
  
"Wait!" Max said. "Let's here him out. Talk!"  
  
"Manticore is about to attack," Lydecker said.  
  
"You kidnapped Zack," Krit said.  
  
"That wasnt me, that was X." Lydecker said.  
  
"X?" Max asked.  
  
"She is another person in charge of you. Me I'm play school, she is the big leagues." Lydecker said. "Call me at this number." He said handing her a piece of paper with his cell number on it.  
  
"Why should we trust you?" Krit asked.  
  
"Just do it," Lydecker said.  
  
Logan's apartment:  
  
He heard a knock at his door. He rolled over to the door. He opened it to be knocked down by soilders.  
  
Mademe X entered. "Where is the X-5?"  
  
"She isnt here." Logan said.  
  
"Well, you know what? I just dont believe that." Mademe X said. "Bring him in."  
  
The soilders dragged him. Original Cindy was watching from under the desk.  
  
  
Motel:  
  
The phone rang. "Hello," Max said.  
  
"They got Logan," Original Cindy said.  
  
"No, who?" Max asked.  
  
"Those peeps that blew up Jam pony." Original Cindy said.  
  
"No," Max said as she hung up the phone. "Krit I gotta go back,"   
  
"No," Krit said. "Why?"  
  
"They got my boyfriend." Max said, she couldnt even believe she just said that.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  



	3. Waiting 4 something that will never happ...

Unhappy anniversary  
  
Logan's apartment:  
  
Max stood their right next to Original Cindy. "Where do you think they took him?" Max asked.  
  
"I dunno," Original Cindy said. "Their was a lady; short and white. And she was like bring him with us."  
  
"X," Max said. "Look I gotta blaze. I'll see you in a few weeks."  
  
Original Cindy walked over to her. "Promise me, boo. That you will be ok."  
  
"Promise." Max said shutting the door behind her.  
  
Manticore's lab:  
  
Dr. Summers sat at his desk. "I cant believe what is happening."  
  
Dr. Rosenburg walked over to him. "What?"  
  
"The plague is about to be released onto the world." Summers said.  
  
"Where did it come from?" Rosenburg asked.  
  
"Us," Summers said. "When the X-5's were made if they ever tried to escape we would unleash a taxon onto them that would render them out of it for a few days until we had time to put them back under our control. But the taxon was stolen from us by the japenese and they plan to use it agaisnt us as a plague that would kill us humans and not the X-5's."  
  
"So what is this building up to?" Rosenburg asked.  
  
"World war three." Summers said. "And it wont be pretty."  
  
"Should I call X?" Rosenburg asked.  
  
"Yeah, do that. Make her aware that all the X-5's will be needed." Summers said putting his hand on his forehead.  
  
Mademe X's office:  
  
"So you really dont know where the X-5 is?" Mademe X asked Logan whom was tied to a chair.  
  
"No I don't you bitch!" Logan spat at her.  
  
"Now now, not a temper. Because as soon as we get the little X-5 bitch back we are going to tear her apart and kill her." Mademe X said.  
  
Lydecker's apartment:  
  
"Lydecker," Max said as he turned to face her.  
  
"I am proud you decided to show." Lydecker said.  
  
"Proud?" Max said. Krit folllowed her in.  
  
"Anyway, I know they got your little boyfriend. And I can help you get him back." Lydecker said.  
  
"That's good." Max said. "But we are also getting back Zack."  
  
"Ok," Lydecker said. "Mademe X is a powerful bitch and she wants to kill all of my kids and I am not about to let that happen. All I need is a few good soilders to go in and take the place down."  
  
"We can help with that." Krit said.   
  
"Syl, Me and you?" Max asked.  
  
"Yeah and Tinga." Krit said.  
  
"And Brin." Max said. "We are saving my sister."  
  
Krit nodded. "Lydecker we will meet you here in three hours." He said giving him a piece of paper with an adress for a abadoned warehouse on it.  
  
"Be ready." Max said as they turned and left.  
  
Warehouse:  
  
Max, Krit, Syl, and Tinga all stood ready for battle. Lydecker drove up. "Ready kids?"  
  
"We are not kids." Syl said.  
  
Tinga smiled at Syl. "We're ready as we'll ever be."  
  
Max walked away towards the door. "I'm ready." She said with an uncertain face.  
  
Tinga walked towards her. "Ready for what excactly?"  
  
"War."  
  
Manticore's lab:  
  
The soilders all stood in front of the fences. "Lydecker drawaed out a map for us." Max said.  
  
"Follow that." Krit said. "And all will be sweet."  
  
"Me and Tinga go in through the roof." Max said. "You and Syl go in through the back."  
  
They all nodded. Max turned towards Lydecker. "If this is a trap you have four deadly soilders on your ass."  
  
They leaped over the fence. Tinga and Max tossed roops on the roof and they began to climb. On the roof they found two big windows.  
  
"On three." Tinga said.  
  
"One," Max said.  
  
"Two," Tinga said.  
  
"Three!" They both shouted breaking through the roof.  
  
They landed down. Seven soilders surrounded them. The back door blew off as Krit and Syl came through.  
  
"Attack!" Max screamed.  
  
They all flew into the air unleashing kicks to whom ever was in front of them.  
  
"We need some back..." Kick to his face.  
  
Max stood up and did a rundhouse to an upcoming attacker. More soilders poured into the room.  
  
Krit shot at four. They all went down.  
  
Lab room:  
  
Zack woke up to the loud noise. It was a big fight going on right outside his very door. "I'm in here!" He screamed.  
  
Max busted the door down. "Hey, big brother."  
  
She untied him. "What's going on?"  
  
"War," Max said. "We're stopping Mnaticore once and for all."  
  
"We?" Zack asked.  
  
"Krit, Tinga and Syl." Max said. "You and me. Now get off your ass and lets fight."  
  
A soilder burst through the door. Zack kicked him in the face and took his gun. He began to shoot at every soilder in his eyesight.  
  
"I need to find Logan." Max said.  
  
Tinga nodded. "We will began to plant the bombs and Lydecker will set them off when we're all scott free."  
  
"He told me X might have him and Im headed for her office now." Max said.  
  
"Lydecker?" Zack asked.  
  
"Long story." Syl said as she burst a few heads open with her AK-47.  
  
Max took off in speed.  
  
Mademe X's office:  
  
Max kicked down the door. "Logan," She said untieing him. "Run for the car."  
  
"Behind you." Logan screamed. As he was half way out the door.  
  
She was shot with three taser and is out. "Go," Max said.  
  
He continued to run. "I'll save you."  
  
Manticore lab:  
  
The battle was still ranging. "We got you." Syl said. "And the bombs are set so let's be out."  
  
Everyone nodded and ran. Krit looked down at his walkie talkie and said,"Lydecker now!"  
  
Lydecker pressed down on the trigger and the lab blew up soilders and all.  
  
"Max!" Zack said.  
  
"She is safe," Logan said.  
  
"What the hell happened?" Zack asked.  
  
"She was shot with tasers." Logan said.  
  
"Damn," Zack said. "We will come back and get her later."  
  
"Let's go," Tinga screamed.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED..... 


	4. Sitting at the edge of tomorrow

Deadly liasons  
  
Logan's apartment:  
  
Tinga, Logan,Zack, Syl, and Krit were in Logan's living room.  
  
"Max is kidnapped and we have to save her. Clear and simple." Zack said. "She got herself caught saving you." He looked over to Logan.  
  
"But at least the lab is gone." Logan said.  
  
"Yeah," Krit said. "But we dont know what they're doing with Max."  
  
Manticore:  
  
Max laid out in a white room. "Where am I?" She asked doctor Summers.  
  
"Home," Summers said.  
  
She then had a flash of all the past events that just happened. "I'm not home."  
  
He adjusted a movie for Max right above her head. Flashes began to appear. Discipline.Kill.Soilder.Honor.Trust. Max closed her eyes hard. "No!" She screamed. "Turn it off."  
  
He glanced at her. "No, we need our soilders back."  
  
Jam pony:  
  
Original Cindy walked into the her job and headed for her locker. Normal headed for her. The place was fixed up. The place wasnt as bad after all/  
  
"Were is Max?" Normal asked.  
  
"She is real real sick. She has a deadly virus and the doctors said shes gots to gets her rest." Original Cindy said. "So I'll pick up her pay."  
  
"Ok," Normal said breathing in deeply. "You people get to work fast bip, bip bip!"  
  
"I thought we had a deal," Original Cindy said, "No more bip, bip,bips."  
  
Normal shut up.  
  
Three guys walked into Jam pony. "Cindy?" One of the guys asked.  
  
"Yes," Original Cindy asked.  
  
"We need you to work for Manticore," Another guy said.  
  
"Manticore?" Original Cindy said. "Ok,"  
  
Manticore:  
  
Mademe X sat at her desk as a soilder appeared into her office. "Do you have her friend?"  
  
"Yes, Ma'am," the soilder said.  
  
"Good, good." Mademe X said.  
  
"Excuse for asking but what do you hope to accomplish with her friend?" The soilder asked.  
  
"Well," Mademe X said. "I have a feeling that her firends are working with the other X-5's and they'll try to get the other recently caputured X-5. So when they come to attack we'll be ready for them."  
  
Logan's apartment:  
  
"Should I do it?" Original Cindy asked.  
  
"This could actually work our way." Zack said. "I gotta an idea. Do you have a clearence card?"  
  
Original Cindy showed him it.  
  
"Ok," Zack said,"We go in tonight."  
  
Manticore:  
  
Original Cindy showed her card as her and the X-5's snuck in behind her. "Shh," Original Cindy said. It was very dark.  
  
Zack led the way. "Come on this way."  
  
They followed. They heard a noise and the lights came on.  
  
"Hello, kiddies." Mademe X said standing next to the X-6's all teenagers with rifles with lasers all aimed for their heads.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED........  
  
Check out www.geocities.com/whatzthedealio for more Dark angel fix  
  



	5. Do or you dont, you will or you wont

Prelude to war  
  
Manticore :  
  
Lasers were pointed to all of the X-5's heads. Mademe X just smiled. "Bring them home."  
  
Tasers shot out at all of them. They all exploded into the air unleashing kicks to the X-6's. They were all easliy disarmed.  
  
"Ok," Mademe X said. "Since this little display of acrobats is over lets bring them the holding cells."  
  
"No!" Tinga said knocking the X-6 that was holding her out. She ran and was shot three times in her back.  
  
"No!" Zack screamed. He quickly knocked out and X-6 and ran over to the one that killed Tinga and cracked his neck. He leaned over top of her. "Tinga say something."  
  
"Zack," Tinga said. "I have a son. Please protect him." Then blood came from her mouth.  
  
"Tinga no!" Syl screamed.  
  
"She might not be that bad. Prep her for breeding." Mademe X said.  
  
Holding cell:  
  
"You guys shouldnt have came for me." Max said.  
  
"We had no other choice." Krit said. "We werent going to let them do to you what they did to Brin."  
  
"But Tinga," Max said as a tear slipped from her eye.  
  
"I know it's hard to believe Max but she is dead." Zack said.  
  
"Orginal Cindy," Max said. "Thanks."  
  
"No problem, Boo. This is the best way for me to spend my friday night anyway." Orginal Cindy said.  
  
"Well, now we need a way out." Zack said.  
  
"The vents," Max said.  
  
"They are to far up." Krit said.  
  
"We can do it. The only problem is that we are all in different cells." Zack said.  
  
"We can make the jump. Remember all that stuff about letting yourself excell?" Max asked. "Well do that."  
  
They all glanced at each other and then prepared to jump.  
  
"Wait wait wait!" Orginal Cindy said. "I'm not one of you. I cant jump twele feet into the air."  
  
"Well when we get into the vents I'll drop out on the other side then let you out." Max said.  
  
Orginal Cindy nodded.  
  
They all leaped into the air and grabbed hold of their separate vents. They crawled til Max made it past the other side and dropped out of the hatch.  
  
"See?" Max asked. She then mustered up all she had and unleashed a kick onto the door breaking it.  
  
"Well why couldnt you do that back when you were over here?" Orginal Cindy asked.  
  
"Because the handle is on this side." Max said. "Now I'm going to toss you up ad Zack is going to grab hold of you."  
  
"Ok," Orginal Cinday said. She was then tossed into the air and Zack caught her by the arm.  
  
"Hurry up, someone's comming." Max said. She then leaped into the air.  
  
"They'eve escaped." a soilder said. "Alert all the soilders."  
  
They crawled as fast as they could. They kicked open the final hatch and dropped out. "Well were out here." Zack said.  
  
"Seems like I did this before." Max said.  
  
"What?" Orginal Cindy asked.  
  
"Escape from Manticore." Max answered. They ran for the fence. Max kicked a hole into it for Cindy. Max was then shot in her back and she fell. "Go!" Max screamed. She then blacked out.  
  
"No!" Zack screamed. Syl grabbed him by the arm. "We gotta go. Max is dead."  
  
"No!" Zack said running to her. "You guys go!"  
  
"No" Krit said. "We cant leave you."  
  
"Go!" Zack said as he was shot with a taser.  
  
Krit nodded and ran to the van.  
  
Med room:  
  
"She's dead." Doctor summers said. "Her heart isnt working. She needs a transplant A.S.A.P.   
  
"The dead X-5." Mademe X said. "Use her heart."  
  
"We cant.," Doctor Summers said.  
  
Zack came to. "Max!" He got up and cracked Doctor summers neck. He then bent to kiss her. Mademe X ran for the door. Zack kicked her. "Who are you?"  
  
"Renfro," Maademe X said. "But people call me Mademe X.."  
  
"Do you have a gun?" Zack asked.  
  
"Yes, I do." Renfro/Mademe X said.  
  
"Hand it over!" Zack screamed.  
  
She did as she was told. Zack then whispered into Max's ear. "Beat them, Maxie."  
  
"Use my heart!" Zack said as he shot himself in the head.  
  
"Prep her for surgery." Renfro said.  
  
Logan's apartment:  
  
"She's gone." Logan said as a tear coursed down his cheek.  
  
"I'm sorry."Syl said. "But we all gotta split up now."  
  
"Again?" Krit asked.  
  
"Yeah,"Syl said. "We have to."  
  
"I am going to move on to." Logan said.  
  
A few weeks later:  
  
  
Manticore:  
  
"X-5 452 how are you?" Mademe X asked.  
  
"Very well mam," Max asked. "I am ready to lead the X-7's."  
  
"Very good." Mademe X said. "Very good."  
  
To be continued...  
  
Check out www.geocities.com/whatzthedealio 


	6. The threat

  
Tears cried  
Max lay in the darkness, listening to her heart beat.  
  
Tomorrow it would start. The training. The brainwashing. She didn't  
think she was strong enough to fight it, to fight them. Not  
physically strong -- she could snap the leather cords binding her to  
the bed if she wished. Mentally strong. If she tried to escape,  
they'd kill her. And if they killed her, everything Zack   
died for would be a lie.  
  
But if she stayed and let them turn her into a soldier again, it would  
also be a lie. That was the easy choice, though. If she gave in to  
it, she'd forget what freedom was. She'd forget Logan, and Cindy, and  
all the other people she loved. She'd forget her other life. Where  
now her Manticore past seemed a dream she'd had once, a long time  
ago, soon her free life would seem that sort of dream. It   
would hurt less if she didn't struggle. And Max didn't think she could  
take any more pain.  
  
1.  
  
Someone was following him. Logan glanced behind him as he made his way  
through the marketplace, running the sort of mundane errands that  
always needed to be run. But the person following was quicker than he  
was, and all he glimpsed was a shadow.  
  
It made his heart race a little. He was used to being followed, to  
getting into trouble. His articles and reports stirred things up.  
That was the point. He'd had a story printed in the Seattle Free  
Press a week ago. Maybe that was enough to set goons on his trail.   
  
Since Max died, he'd become reckless. Logan told himself it was  
because he had his mobility back, so he had more power to live the  
sort of life he'd once had. He wasn't as vulnerable as he was before,  
which meant he could take more risks. Deep down somewhere, he knew it  
was because he didn't care. He didn't think about it because it was  
shocking. Logan had never loved anyone so much that their loss  
rendered his life worthless, except for his parents, and they'd been   
his whole world before they died. But he'd been a child then. This was  
both different and the same.  
  
Logan headed up the alley behind his building, moving away from the  
crowds into sunless silence. He heard the sound of his feet pounding  
against the pavement as he strained to walk slowly, calmly. Like a  
tourist consulting his map in the worst part of town -- easy,  
attractive bait.  
  
Wouldn't it be ironic if he was merely setting himself up to be  
robbed, Logan thought. But robbers weren't this stealthy. Neither  
were hit men, in his experience. Only one person he knew had been so  
good at sliding into shadows, and she was gone.  
  
He didn't look back now, didn't want to telegraph he was on to his new  
friend. The element of surprise was about all he had going for him,  
especially if he was the target of a genetically engineered soldier  
sent to kill him. He was unarmed. He'd given up his guns after Max's  
death. They'd lost their appeal to him. He knew it was stupid -- if  
Max had been armed going into Manticore, she probably would have been  
able to fight back and defend herself. But he'd given them up   
anyway.  
  
When are they going to make their move? He wondered. He didn't have  
all day to play this cat and mouse game. Anyone worth their price  
would know this was his building, and they'd be suspicious if he  
didn't go inside. Plus he had a meeting at eleven he didn't want to  
miss with a skittish informant. If he canceled, he'd lose the  
opportunity for good.  
  
Logan pulled out his passcard and rounded the corner to the front door  
of the apartment building where he lived. He went inside, waited for  
the express elevator, and went into his apartment. The door slipped  
closed, the door locking neatly behind him.   
  
There was someone waiting for him inside. A woman, not very tall,  
slender, with delicate wrists. She was dressed from head to toe in  
black, with a thick blond ponytail spilling over one shoulder. She  
had a tattoo of a black flower on one hand, and she carried no  
weapon. Logan met her eyes and was shocked by the intensity of them,  
and by the sea-like quality of their blue-green shade. She'd   
been sizing him up just as he'd been assessing her.  
  
"Max isn't dead," she said.  
  
"I held her as the last breath went out of her body," Logan said, and  
felt shame as his voice broke. It had been six months. He ought to be  
able to keep his emotions in check by now. "She's dead." He brushed  
past the woman and went into the kitchen to put away his groceries.  
He could feel her fury radiating.  
  
"Manticore's going down," she said.  
  
"Are you going to do it all yourself, Jondy?" Logan turned again to  
face her. She flinched when he said her name. It hadn't been  
difficult for him to figure out. She was obviously one of the '09  
escapees, and she wasn't Tinga, Syl, Brin or Max. Jondy was the only  
other female who'd made it out.  
  
"I'm not going to do it at all," she said. "Terrorists are planning a  
siege on the compound."  
  
"If they get in alive, they won't be coming back out," Logan said.  
"You and I both know how tight their security was, and I'm sure  
they've stepped it up after the raid six months ago."  
  
"It's a suicide mission, and they know it. It's more profitable at  
this point to destroy the remaining Manticore prototypes than to try  
to acquire them. Especially when the heads of several governments --  
including our own -- is paying them a couple of billion dollars."  
  
"So let them," Logan said as callously as he could. "You don't want to  
see Manticore continue after what they did to you, and the others."  
  
"They have nuclear weapons," Jondy said, serious.  
  
Logan's heart skipped. Anyone who'd lived through the pulse and its  
aftermath would have the same reaction. "I need proof."  
  
"I've got it," Jondy offered, slipping him a sneak peek of a DVD  
tucked into the inside pocket of her jacket.  
  
"When's this going down?"  
  
"Soon."  
  
He looked at her, wondering if she knew a more specific date. "That  
doesn't give us a lot of time."  
  
_ _ _  
  
"Hey, Victor."  
  
"Hi, Max." The lab technician smiled shyly as he handed Max the small  
paper cup containing her meds, as he did every morning.  
  
"What's the 411?" Max started swallowing down pills.   
  
"The way you talk..." Victor shook his head, but there was a smile in  
his dark eyes. "There's talk of X-8s again."  
  
"How can they?"  
  
"The genetic sequence was computer-coded. They think they can get  
their hands on synthetic proteins. From there, it's a small step to  
grow DNA chains in the lab," Victor said. Max frowned. "I don't like  
it any more than you do."  
  
"Anything you can do about it?" Max asked.   
  
Victor gave a quick shake of his head, and the door to the small room  
opened. The rest of the X-5s filed in and Victor moved to distribute  
their medicines. Max always made a point of being early.   
  
No one spoke. Max glanced at Victor, and he was watching the young men  
and women swallow their medication. The X-5s were the only ones who  
required daily meds. They weren't supposed to know what the small  
white pills were for, and all of them were identical, which made it  
easy for Manticore to change the drugs in their experiments.  
  
It also made it impossible to detect the changes Victor himself made  
in the protocol.  
  
The X-5s filtered back out into the hallway. "You're not going to end  
up like Jace, are you?" Eva whispered to Max, falling into step with  
her. At Max's look, Eva continued. "Victor doesn't look at you. He  
was like that with Jace, too. Before..."  
  
Max looked at her friend. She wanted to tell her everything. Eva was  
the only friend she had inside Manticore. Neither of them were  
supposed to be alive; that was their bond. Eva's shooting had touched  
off the '09 escape. None of them had ever suspected she was still  
alive and inside Manticore.  
  
Zack must have known, Max thought, and not for the first time. He'd  
been recaptured, not once but twice. But Max remember how mixed up  
he'd been after his last escape. He'd barely remembered where Tinga  
and Jondy and the others were. She couldn't blame him for not  
mentioning Eva. Besides, they'd put so much work into brainwashing  
him, it was possible he'd never been released into the   
general population of X-5. Maybe he hadn't seen her.  
  
"You're thinking about him," Eva said softly as they took their  
customary places inside the gym.  
  
Max blinked and it brought Eva's face into focus. She was supposed to  
be paying attention. She was the other girl's spotter -- even  
genetically engineered killing machines needed spotters when they  
lifted weights, especially since Eva could bench press 650. Max  
forced a smile, but didn't say anything. She didn't want to talk  
about Zack. She didn't want to think about him, either, but she   
couldn't keep him out of her thoughts.  
  
From across the room, Max could feel Brin watching them.   
  
_ _ _  
  
"So how did you know who I was?" Jondy inquired as she leaned over  
Logan's shoulder, watching him bang away at his computer keyboard,  
seeking information. He was too involved in trying to keep the  
Department of Defense from discovering the location from which he was  
hacking, so it took several moments of silent concentration before he  
could begin to form an answer. But Jondy was impatient   
and continued, "Did Max talk about me?"  
  
"She mentioned you, yes," Logan admitted.  
  
"What did she say?" Jondy pushed.  
  
"I don't want to talk about her," Logan said.  
  
"That still doesn't explain how you recognized me," Jondy pressed.  
  
"Something about you just screams 'Manticore' I guess," Logan said.  
  
Jondy's eyes narrowed, cat-like. "You know where the others are."  
  
"Some of them," Logan admitted. He continued to type at his usual  
rate, executing commands almost as quickly as the computer could  
process them. If they could find out who in the US government was  
involved in the plot, they'd have a place to start.  
  
The screen went blank.  
  
"What the hell?" Logan pulled his fingers from the keyboard, as though  
something could come through its wires to obliterate him as it had  
the data on his screen. Then he saw the loose plug swinging from  
Jondy's hand.   
  
"I want you to pay attention when I'm talking to you," Jondy said.  
  
"Give me that." Logan reached for the cord.  
  
"Where are they." It wasn't a question. It was an order.  
  
Logan didn't take orders from skinny little girls who purposely ruined  
several hours worth of information pursuits. "Get out of here," he  
said, reaching again for the cord. He put his hand on it and started  
to jerk it away. Faster than he could blink, his hand was being bent  
backward and Jondy's hands were painfully placed on his arm.  
  
"I'll break it in three places if you don't let go," Jondy  
threatened.  
  
"I wouldn't be much good to you with a broken arm," Logan said evenly.  
"Then again, you don't seem to care much about how the information  
gets found. You just want what you want, when you want it."  
  
"You calling me a spoiled brat?" Jondy challenged. She pushed the heel  
of his hand a fraction of an inch and it was all he could do not to  
yelp in pain. "You're the one with the posh digs." Logan said  
nothing. "Where are they?"  
  
"Brin was captured. Tinga's dead. Zack's dead. Max is dead. Ben is  
dead."  
  
"Ben's dead?"   
  
"Max killed him." Logan realized an instant later it wasn't good to  
give unsolicited details to someone set on breaking your arm.  
  
"You're lying," Jondy snarled.  
  
"And you're hurting me," he informed her. She shoved him loose with  
such force, he couldn't get his balance and fell. It was made worse  
by the fact his arm was completely numb. But it wasn't broken.  
  
"Max wouldn't," Jondy said.  
  
"There were extenuating circumstances," Logan told her.  
  
"You're a pompous asshole," Jondy continued.  
  
"Maybe," Logan concurred sarcastically. He wouldn't win a war of  
strength, but a war of hurtful words would be no problem. But that  
wasn't the way to go. Jondy was like a wild bird that had flown into  
a building. Suddenly caged, dependent on someone other than herself  
for help, she found no choice but to become vicious. Logan understood  
that feeling. He'd lived with it for more than a year before he got  
the exoskeleton. "When was the last time you ate?"  
  
"Random much?" Jondy demanded.  
  
"I just thought perhaps we could talk more civilly over dinner," Logan  
suggested, finally recovered enough to pick himself up from the floor.  
He plugged the computer back in, and went into the kitchen.  
  
"How can you be hungry at a time like this?" Jondy scoffed.  
  
Logan ignored her, beginning to gather the various dishes he'd need to  
prepare the meal he'd been planning when he went to the market  
earlier. He'd planned for leftovers, so it wouldn't be too much of a  
stretch to make it serve two. "Start washing the vegetables," he told  
her.  
  
"I don't take orders from you."  
  
"You don't eat if you don't help, either," Logan said. Scowling, Jondy  
picked up the scrub brush and turned on the tap. "You always this  
personable?"  
  
"Sometimes I'm less," Jondy offered. Logan looked at her interestedly,  
because he suspected that had been a joke. "Want me to chop them?"  
  
"I don't trust you with a knife," Logan said as pleasantly as he  
could.  
  
A strange sound erupted from Jondy's mouth. She looked as surprised as  
Logan felt. It took them both a moment to realize she was laughing.  
Logan smiled at her and instantly she was sober and scowling again.  
"What have you been up to?" he asked her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Since the escape."  
  
"Why do you want to know?" she demanded suspiciously.  
  
"It's called 'conversation.'"  
  
"When was the last time you had this place checked for bugs?" Jondy  
demanded, shoving past him out of the kitchen. He heard something  
slam in the next room and decided to leave her to it. She was just as  
useless in the kitchen as Max had been.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Eva saw Max looking at Brin, and Brin staring right back in challenge.  
"Max," Eva said.  
  
"What?" Max called to her sister from across the room.  
  
"Max," Eva said again, more urgently, because she knew where this was  
headed.  
  
"Don't worry, little sister," Max said, her voice tough, as she  
crossed the room to where Brin was spotting for Ash. Eva hated it  
when Max called her "little sister." Almost as much as she hated it  
when Max and Brin fought, which was nearly every day. "You really  
wanna do this again?" Max challenged.  
  
"You really think you're going to beat me?" Brin asked, her tone  
bored.  
  
"No," Max replied. Brin smirked. "One of these days, I'm going to kill  
you." Max threw the first punch. Brin's head whipped to one side,  
then snapped back. She'd been too fast and avoided the blow. Within  
moments, the two girls were engaged in all-out war. Some of the other  
X-5s didn't stop their workouts. If they did, they would be  
disciplined. Besides, it was nothing they hadn't seen before.  
  
The door flew open. A whistle blew. A team of six guards entered, but  
they didn't move into the fray. They remained near the doors, as  
though sealing them off as possibility of escape.   
  
"Enough." The shrill female voice sent a shiver through Max. It was  
enough to distract her for a split second, which was all Brin needed  
to bust open her lip. Max shoved Brin's head against the wall, dazing  
the girl. Max did it again, and felt Brin struggle, not against her,  
but against unconsciousness. "I said stop!"  
  
Before Max could bash Brin's head again, she felt the sting of the  
guards' tazers. The electrical shock burned against her spine,  
setting off painful spasms all the way to the nerve endings in her  
hands and feet. It was the only weapon the guards had, carefully  
calibrated to be as painful as possible. Max couldn't make her  
muscles work, so she slid to the floor in a quivering heap.  
  
"You will listen when I give you orders." It was Renfro, the blond  
bitch who ran this circus. Max gathered enough motor control to spit  
in her face. "Put her in the hole. Again." The last word was added  
with a sigh as the guards dragged Max away.   
  
_ _ _  
  
Six months of meals eaten at this table in solitude were coming to an  
end. Logan couldn't help but think of Max as he set the table. He  
wanted to be able to go back in time, to stop it all from happening,  
so he could be lighting candles and pouring out some wine. But it  
wasn't to be. His houseguest was sullen and ungracious.  
  
"Eat it," he told her.  
  
"How do I know you didn't put anything in it?" Jondy asked, eyeing the  
vegetable plate carefully.  
  
"If you'd helped, then you'd know that, wouldn't you?" Logan's tone  
fell easily into the range of condescending. "Instead of searching my  
apartment. I bet you didn't find what you were looking for."  
  
"I still want to know where they are," Jondy demanded, her eyes  
blazing.  
  
"Keep it up and I'll start to think there are no terrorists," Logan  
said.  
  
"They're real," Jondy said. She considered the food again.   
  
Logan could see the hunger in her eyes. He got up just as her hand  
curled around the fork. "If you don't want it..." He swooped down and  
took away the plate before she managed to get a bite. Jondy jumped to  
her feet. Logan wondered if this was going to turn into another  
wrestling match, like earlier. "You haven't told me why you think Max  
is alive."  
  
"Give me back the food and I'll tell you," Jondy said, weighing each  
word carefully.  
  
Slowly, Logan put the plate back on the table. She ate quickly, like a  
starving animal. Logan watched her, and when she'd cleaned her plate,  
he gave his a little push toward her. Jondy looked at him sharply.  
"Take it," he said, and without a moment's hesitation, she did. Logan  
got up.  
  
"Where are you going?" she demanded.  
  
"There's chocolate cake in the kitchen. Unless you don't like cake."  
  
"I've never had it," Jondy said casually. Logan looked at her for a  
second, slightly surprised. Then he wondered if Max had ever had  
cake. It shocked him how quickly the tears could fill his eyes, even  
after all this time. He went into the kitchen and took several deep  
breaths before taking the dessert into the dining room.  
  
Logan watched as Jondy ate piece after piece. "So, what's the  
verdict?" he asked.  
  
Jondy nodded. "It's not bad."  
  
No one had ever called Logan's chocolate cake "not bad" before. It  
generally brought rave reviews, and had almost single-handedly  
seduced more than one woman in his wilder days. "Tell me about Max,"  
he said.  
  
"I can do better than that," Jondy grinned, slipping the DVD disk from  
her coat again. "I can show you."  
  
_ _ _  
  
The Hole was much what you'd expect from the name. In a deep  
subbasement of the complex, it was dark and damp. The idea of it  
corresponded to that of solitary confinement in most prisons. As  
punishment for an X-5 went, it was the about the best they could  
manage. And it wasn't all that punishing.  
  
Once the door was locked behind her, Max relaxed. She wasn't overly  
fond of dark, small spaces, but she'd spent enough time in this one  
it had become like a second home to her. She curled up on the floor,  
listening to the screams coming from beyond the locked door. She  
could think of much more frightening punishments. They could lock her  
in a cell with one of the nomalies. They could take her to the labs  
and use their saws to break apart her bones to see how   
quickly they'd grow back together.  
  
The Hole was easy. It was a toddlers' time-out from Manticore life.  
There was no running, no hunting, no killing. They didn't feed you in  
the hole, so there was none of the cafeteria protein-enhanced glop  
that tried to pass for food and failed. No one bothered you. And when  
Renfro decided you'd had enough, they let you out.  
  
There were only two bad things about it. The first was that the guards  
controlled the meds, not Victor. Which meant Max had to take them all,  
full strength. The effects never lasted long, and there was no one  
down there to try to brainwash her, but the feeling of losing control  
was disturbing to her. The other bad thing was that with no one to  
talk to, and no structured time, she was alone with her thoughts.  
  
Max tried to use this time to plan. She went over maps of the building  
in her mind, drilled herself on the best methods of escape. Because  
she was going to escape again, and soon. But after a while, and  
especially after the first dose of meds, her mind began to drift back  
into the days between her escape and her capture. She couldn't help  
remembering the snap of Ben's neck beneath her fingers. Of the way  
Logan's lips felt against hers. And the beating of Zack's   
heart, which she was never going to be able to escape.  
  
_ _ _ 


	7. I have nothing

Slipped  
  
Logan felt his body tight with anticipation as Jondy slipped the disk  
into his computer and they waited for the picture to come up. She  
didn't say anything, and even though her attention was focused on the  
screen, the silence was uneasy.   
  
It was an aerial view of Manticore. Logan's stomach lurched as he  
recognized the fence and the building. It seemed like only yesterday  
he'd stood in those trees, had Max's blood staining his fingers as  
Lydecker dragged him away. "Where'd you get this?"  
  
"Hoverdrone," Jondy said, her eyes fixed on the screen as two figures  
appeared at one corner. Soldiers.  
  
"How'd you do that?" he asked, surprised. It was almost impossible for  
a civilian to get their hands on hoverdrone video footage. Not to  
mention hoverdrones shouldn't have been out in the middle of nowhere  
to begin with.  
  
But she didn't answer. She pulled the keyboard toward her, stopping  
the film, selecting the soldiers' faces, enlarging, enhancing. He  
watched her fingers stroke the keys as she did all the things he  
would have done. "Look at the screen, stupid," she intoned, without  
so much as glancing at him.  
  
Logan jerked his eyes up. The soldier guarding Manticore's perimeter  
was Max. Alive and well. Her hands wrapped around a rifle. Her eyes  
cold and hard, her face expressionless. He stared for a long time,  
coming up with theories and discarding them.   
  
"That's Eva with her," Jondy said after several moments had passed.  
"She's supposed to be dead, too. Lydecker shot her before the  
escape."  
  
"So they have a way to bring them back." His voice sounded hollow in  
his own ears. He was certain if he tried to get up, he'd pass out.  
  
"Apparently," Jondy said. She clicked a couple of keys and the image  
vanished from the screen. She reached for the disk.  
  
"Leave it," Logan ordered. Jondy's hand stopped where it was. "I want  
to analyze it."  
  
"It's not faked," she said.  
  
"Then you don't care if I see for myself."  
  
"Be my guest." Jondy pushed back her chair and got up, leaving the  
workstation to Logan. She only went as far as the other side of the  
room, though, leaning against it to watch him.   
  
He didn't move for a long time. He didn't want to do this with her  
watching him. "Where are you staying in Seattle?" he asked.  
  
"I came straight here."  
  
"Guest room's down the hall. The bed's made up."  
  
"I don't sleep," Jondy informed him.  
  
"Neither did Max." His voice had dropped to a whisper. Shaking himself  
from thoughts of her, he began to go over the film, analyzing it  
frame by frame for any impurities. It was a long process.  
  
_ _ _  
  
At some point, Max became aware that the door to the Hole was  
unlocked. She sat there, contemplating whether it was an oversight or  
a trap. Her Manticore re- training had made her more cautious. It had  
also made her stronger, so she pushed the door open and slipped out  
into the hall.  
  
The lights overhead were dim. It was night. Max kept her eyes on the  
security camera in the hallway. When it completed its rotation and  
began to turn in the opposite direction, she moved silently down the  
hall.  
  
"Help me...let me out..." One of the nomalies roused as she slunk past  
his door. Max frowned. They were the monsters of her childhood. But  
maybe that had been wrong. Maybe they were locked up down here for  
another reason. Just as she was.  
  
She never would have considered letting it out. But she was curious  
enough to sneak back and peek through the reinforced window in the  
door, the one through which the moans were being transmitted.   
  
"Pretty pretty," the nomaly said, raising his face and baring decaying  
teeth at her. His hair hung down raggedly, and he was in chains. The  
guards must be afraid of them, too, Max thought. But Manticore hadn't  
had them destroyed, so they were valuable. But for what purpose?  
  
"I missed you, Maxie," the nomaly said, and Max's stomach clenched  
hard. She must have misheard. As she continued to look at him, she  
began to see Zack's face, betrayed by age and lack of care, but it  
was Zack. He moved toward the door -- toward her -- and it was a  
moment before she stepped back.  
  
The identification number etched into the door caught her eye. Of  
course this wasn't Zack. It was an X-2; the nomalies were all X-2s.  
This one just happened to be Zack's predecessor.   
  
Max fought the dual urge to run away as fast as she could, and to  
linger and investigate further.  
  
"I wouldn't stick my finger in his cage if I were you." The voice came  
from behind her and Max jumped to find a guard leaning against the  
wall. Watching her. "He likes the taste of human flesh."  
  
Max said nothing. All the responses in her head were sarcastic, but  
her brain was moving faster than that. None of the guards had ever  
spoken to her before. And this one was alone. He didn't even have his  
tazer out. So he was unafraid of her, which made him foolish. It also  
meant he was breaking policy. She could use an ally on the staff if  
her escape plans were to occur. Maybe this was her chance.  
  
"Are you the one who left the door unlocked?" Max asked, adjusting her  
stance. She hadn't forgotten everything she'd learned outside  
Manticore's walls. Guys liked sexy girls, and that included security  
guards. It was the easiest, quickest way to win him over to her  
side.  
  
"Bright one," he said, not moving.  
  
"We all are," Max replied.  
  
"But you're not like the others," he said, his small brown eyes fixed  
on her. "Else you wouldn't be here."  
  
"You could get in trouble," Max breathed.  
  
The guard shrugged.  
  
"I appreciate it. Your taking a risk for me." With every sentence, Max  
moved a bit closer to him. Just to see how he'd react. What would  
happen.  
  
"I ain't doing it out of the kindness of my heart," the guard informed  
her.  
  
"Are you new? I haven't seen you around --" Max didn't get to finish  
her sentence. The guard had his tazer hidden up his sleeve, and he  
reached out and shocked her in the neck, hard, holding the device  
there so long she could smell her skin burning.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Logan picked his head up off the keyboard and reached up to touch the  
dents in his skin from the pressure. He straightened his glasses and  
saw it was close to seven in the morning. The sound of the shower  
began to register in his mind as put his hand against the keyboard  
and pushed his chair back. At least he hadn't drooled on it this  
time.  
  
"You want breakfast?" Logan called to Jondy over the sound of running  
water as he headed into the kitchen to start some coffee. The can he  
kept in the freezer barely held enough grounds to fill the machine.  
No more where that came from, he thought, wondering how much the  
coffeemaker would bring him on the black market. Someone richer than  
him was bound to be willing to pay through the nose to feed   
their addiction.  
  
But he'd think about that later. The air in the apartment felt humid,  
and he wondered how long the shower had been running. Not to mention  
that there was only one bathroom in the penthouse, and he needed to  
use it. After several moments' debate with himself, Logan headed back  
there.  
  
"How long are you going to be?" Logan asked. There was no response  
from inside. An instinct told him something was wrong. "Jondy?" He  
knocked on the door before opening it.  
  
The water beat down on her, where she was huddled on the floor of the  
tub, shuddering violently. Logan moved quickly to shut off the water.  
It was cold. Its absence made her open her eyes and look up at him as  
she squeezed her arms tighter around her knees and tried to stop  
shaking.  
  
"It's okay," Logan said, grabbing a towel from the rack and wrapping  
it around her. Her skin was cold to the touch. He brushed back some  
of the long, tangled hair that was plastered against her face.  
"You're going to be okay."  
  
Her shaky hand seized the edge of the towel. "I can do it," she told  
him.  
  
"Stay here," he ordered.  
  
"No problem," Jondy said, and he could have sworn he heard a note of  
humor in her voice.  
  
Logan dashed into the kitchen first, but there was no milk. "Damn," he  
muttered to himself. He hadn't expected to have any more need for  
tryptophan, so he'd sold the bottle he had. There was nothing he  
could do. He went back into the bathroom.  
  
"It's getting better," Jondy reported. It didn't look any better to  
him. Logan scooped her up from the tub and carried her into the guest  
bedroom. "Hasn't happened in a long time," she said. He was surprised  
by how vulnerable the look in her eyes was now, considering the  
hellfire of a fight she'd put up since she'd walked through his  
door.  
  
"Try to get some rest. I'll try to get some tryptophan," he said,  
pulling the blankets up over her.   
  
He went directly to the phone. "Sebastian."  
  
"Logan. Are you all right?" Sebastian asked.  
  
"I need some tryptophan. Got any sources?"  
  
"You found another one." Sebastian never let anything slide.  
  
"Yeah. And she's sick," Logan said.   
  
"The supply of tryptophan was cut off six months ago. A group of  
government black ops took out the importers. It served as a warning  
to others."  
  
"You're saying I'm not going to find any?" Logan demanded.  
  
"I'll see what I can do," Sebastian promised, and disconnected.  
  
Logan paced. He didn't really know what to do. If he went back in to  
sit with Jondy, she'd probably just kick his ass when she was feeling  
better. But if he didn't...what kind of person would he be to sit out  
here and try to get information on Manticore when she was in the next  
room suffering?   
  
He decided to risk the ass-kicking.  
  
_ _ _  
  
"She'll kill you," Max threatened as the guard dragged her back into  
her cell when he was finished. He dropped her and she felt the pain  
radiate through her body. The effects of the tazer were beginning to  
wear off.  
  
"What makes you think she didn't send me?" the guard said. He slammed  
the door closed and locked it.  
  
Max lay on the floor and felt tears rise up in her eyes. A human  
emotion. Maybe it would be better if she'd let Manticore turn her  
into a soldier again. Then she wouldn't care what they did with her  
body. She sniffled. Took her long enough, she thought bitterly, but  
she did it. Renfro found a way to make this real punishment.  
  
Max wouldn't be getting into trouble any more.  
  
_ _ _  
  
At some point, Jondy had fallen asleep and the tremors had subsided,  
except for the occasional twitch. But still Logan stayed. He felt  
responsible for her, and her siblings. He'd made sure they had the  
money and identity papers if the need arose, and he kept track of  
them. As Zack had done. After all, it was partly Logan's fault Zack  
had been recaptured.  
  
There was a knock at the door and Logan eased himself up from the bed,  
not wanting to disturb Jondy's much-needed rest. Sebastian must have  
come up with something. Logan started to open the door, then thought  
the better of it. He did have an X-5 fugitive in his apartment. Not  
that he thought the people looking for her would be polite enough to  
knock. "Who is it?"  
  
"Jam Pony messenger."  
  
Logan frowned and opened the door. "Cindy."  
  
"You don't call, you don't write," she said. "Sign here."  
  
Logan did, and she handed him a package. "Thanks," he said, and she  
nodded. It was awkward. "How are you?"  
  
"It's been hard," Original Cindy acknowledged seriously. "You?"  
  
"Really hard," Logan replied, and she nodded. Telling her Max wasn't  
coming back was the hardest thing Logan had ever done in his life.  
Looking at her now, he could still see the blank look on her face  
before she'd started crying. "You want to come in? There's coffee."  
  
"Coffee would be great," Original Cindy said and stepped across the  
threshold.  
  
"Logan?" Jondy's confused voice preceded her into the living room.  
  
Cindy froze when she saw Jondy standing there, the bed sheet wrapped  
around her. "Oh."  
  
"It's not --" Logan said.  
  
"I thought you had more class than that," Original Cindy said in a low  
voice. "Guess I was wrong." She turned and walked out of the  
apartment.  
  
"Who was that?" Jondy asked, her voice a little too innocent.  
  
"Max's best friend," Logan said. He hurled the package at her. "Here."  
He went into the bathroom and locked the door. The water was probably  
hot enough for a shower now.  
  
_ _ _  
  
When Max heard footsteps outside the door, she was ready for a fight.  
It was hard to drop the tension when she saw Renfro standing there.  
"What an honor," Max sniped.  
  
"I hope you've enjoyed your time down here," Renfro said coolly, as  
though Max hadn't spoken. As Max stepped out, the two women eyed each  
other icily. "You're a soldier. It's time you started to act like  
one."  
  
"Ma'am, yes ma'am," Max replied, standing at attention. Saluting. And  
not the way she wanted to salute, either -- she used all of her  
fingers.   
  
"I have an assignment for you, X5-452," Renfro said.   
  
Max remained at attention.  
  
"But don't worry, we won't send you into the big, bad world by  
yourself," Renfro continued. "You'll have another one from your team  
as backup."  
  
Max's heart sank because she knew who it was going to be. Renfro's  
favorite. Brin. Renfro liked to rent her soldiers out as assassins.  
Max had a pretty good idea who she'd be ordered to kill, too.  
  
"You leave at oh-three-hundred," Renfro said. "That doesn't give you  
much time."  
  
As the bitch glided away with her guards, Max hurried to the dorm  
where the X-5s slept. It was a different room location that the one  
they'd slept in as children, but nothing else had changed. It was the  
same long row of narrow beds, although there were fewer of them now.  
  
"What happened?" Eva whispered to Max, not even opening her eyes.  
  
"Assignment," Max whispered back.  
  
Eva sat up. Max looked around, but if any of the others were awake,  
they didn't let it show. Max saw Brin's bed was empty. No doubt she'd  
already gathered her pack and was ready to go. "This is your chance,"  
Eva said to Max, very seriously.  
  
Max shook her head. "She knows what she's doing. Brin's going, too."  
  
"How much is freedom worth to you?" Eva asked, holding Max's gaze, as  
Max frowned. "Just think about it."  
  
Max nodded seriously, and tossed her pack over her shoulder. She tried  
to smile, and failed. "If I don't make it back --"  
  
Eva nodded. "I can take care of myself, Maxie," she whispered. "We all  
can."  
  
Max held her gaze another moment longer. If she did what Eva was  
suggesting -- killed Brin in order to escape -- this was the last  
time she'd see her sister again. Max turned quickly to leave. She  
made no promises. She couldn't.  
  
Brin was waiting in the hall. "Don't try anything," Brin ordered.  
  
"I wouldn't dream of it," Max replied airily.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Jondy tucked her hair behind her ears and poured herself a cup of  
coffee, then sat down at the counter to pull open the package Logan  
had thrown at her. She was surprised when she saw it was a bottle of  
tryptophan. The substance had disappeared from the black market  
several months ago and had been impossible to acquire. Yet Logan had  
found some, for a stranger who'd appeared on his doorstep   
mere hours before and caused trouble the entire time she'd been  
there.  
  
It's just because I'm his way to Max, she told herself, finishing the  
coffee and eyeing the other cup's worth that remained in the pot. She  
hadn't had coffee in such a long time and it was so good and so  
strong. But she couldn't shake the soothing feel of his fingers  
stroking her hair.   
  
"To hell with it," she muttered and drank the second cup of coffee.  
  
_ _ _  
  
"So what's the mission?" Max asked once she and Brin were on the road  
in their large black Jeep Cherokee, which she could easily fence for  
ten grand on the black market.  
  
"Assassination," Brin said.  
  
"I figured that," said Max. "Who?"  
  
"You'll know soon enough," Brin told her.  
  
"Renfro didn't think you could handle it alone?" Max couldn't help  
taunting her.  
  
"She's testing you," Brin said. "I'm here to observe."  
  
"What makes you sure I won't kill you and escape?" Max challenged, her  
voice even. Not playful, but not alarmingly serious.  
  
"I'd kill you before you finished thinking the thought," Brin replied.  
  
"That settles that, then," said Max. "How long's the drive?"  
  
"Shouldn't take more than ten hours at top speed," Brin said.  
  
So they were going to Seattle, Max thought, feeling the confirmation  
in her stomach.  
  
"Why do you fight so hard?" Brin asked. Max just looked at her. "You  
can't deny it. And you hate me."  
  
"I don't hate you," Max said. How could she hate Brin? Brin was her  
sister. No matter what she did, or where her loyalties lay.  
  
"We're on the same side now, but you look at me like I'm a traitor,"  
Brin continued.  
  
"Don't you remember what it was like?" Max asked.   
  
Brin nodded solemnly. "They saved my life. Not you, not Zack, not any  
doctor out there in the real world. Manticore did."  
  
"Saving your life doesn't mean they own it, too," Max pointed out.  
  
"Do you like what you see out there?" Brin demanded, gesturing sharply  
to the window. "Everbody's homeless. Everyone's got to struggle to  
survive. People who have nothing. Don't you understand what caused  
that?"  
  
"The Pulse," Max answered. Everyone knew that.  
  
"Don't you see?" Brin asked. "We're the only ones who can protect  
them."  
  
"Who do they need protection from?"  
  
"Themselves."  
  
_ _ _  
  
Logan felt less angry by the time he finished bathing. The exoskeleton  
couldn't get wet, obviously, so for those few minutes of the day, his  
life was back to the way it had been when he was broken: a  
distracting struggle. He emerged into the kitchen feeling refreshed.  
  
"You drank all the coffee," he said, shocked.  
  
Jondy nodded, as though it was to be expected.  
  
The anger surged again. Logan stood there, trying not to explode, and  
then just turned and walked into his computer room without saying a  
word. Jondy trailed him. "I don't want to talk to you," he told her.  
  
"But I --"  
  
"I just want to get this bitch figured out," he said, turning his  
attention to the information on his computer. The details of Jondy's  
impending nuclear strike weren't hanging together. But if he combed  
the informant net, he might be able to get some corroborating  
evidence. Something he could work with.  
  
"I just wanted to say thank you," Jondy said quietly. "For  
everything."  
  
Logan ignored her, grinding his teeth together and frowning more  
deeply at his computer screen. He had a guy with a connection with  
plutonium on the black market. He might know something about the  
nukes. The key was the government connection Jondy had mentioned.  
  
The sound of the front door closing was almost imperceptible. Logan  
picked his head up. "Jondy?" Of course there was no answer. He got up  
from the computer, knowing he couldn't catch her. So he went to the  
window and watched the front door. If he saw which way she went, at  
least he'd have some clue of how to find her in a city the size of  
Seattle.  
  
_ _ _  
  
"Seattle," Max said with distaste.  
  
"Home sweet home," Brin needled her.  
  
"When are you going to tell me who we're going to kill?" Max asked  
again.  
  
"You mean, who you're going to kill." Brin pulled the Jeep over to the  
side of the road and turned it off, reaching under the seat where her  
handgun was stowed. She put it into Max's hand. Max thought she saw a  
little trepidation in Brin's expression. As though Brin wasn't  
entirely convinced Max wouldn't kill her and run.  
  
But Max got no pleasure for it, nor from the power she might have  
felt, holding the gun in her hand. "You want me to walk around the  
city with this?"  
  
"No tracking required. We're here," Brin told her.  
  
Max glanced out the windows. It wasn't Logan's building. She'd been so  
certain they'd ask her to kill him. That Renfro would make her kill  
him. But that made no sense when Max considered it now, rationally.  
Logan was no threat to Renfro. And Renfro couldn't possibly know that  
Max loved him. No, this would be some sort of political target. That  
it was in Seattle was pure coincidence.  
  
"Third floor," Brin said.  
  
"We're shooting homeless drunks now?" Max asked. They were parked  
outside a men's shelter.  
  
"Just one particular homeless drunk," Brin reported. "Time's  
wasting."  
  
"Stay with the car," Max said, pushing the door open. "Otherwise, it  
won't be here."  
  
Brin nodded. "Max," she called through her open window as Max  
approached the building. "Try to run and it's over."  
  
"I know." Max jumped up to the lower rung of the fire escape and  
started to climb. She didn't look down at Brin, fully aware she was  
being watched. She didn't want to do this. Didn't want to kill  
someone for Manticore's cause. But if she didn't, she would die. And  
if she died, Zack's sacrifice would be in vain. Zack would kill  
without question, if it meant his life. He'd demonstrated   
that clearly enough.  
  
Max dropped through the window into the hallway. It was littered with  
debris. The shelter wasn't much better than the apartment she'd  
squatted in. Of course, her apartment had smelled better. She  
wondered if she was supposed to go from door to door and blast  
everyone who was home.  
  
But as it turned out, only one apartment was occupied. By the time she  
got to the end of the hall, she was tired of kicking doors in. If the  
occupant had been a little less distracted, he would have heard her  
coming. But he wasn't. He was dead drunk.  
  
"Max," he said when he saw her through bleary eyes.  
  
"Lydecker," Max's tone was biting.  
  
"I knew they couldn't hold you down. You kids who escaped were the  
best of 'em."  
  
Same old broken record. "I'm sorry," Max said as she pulled the  
trigger. She shot him in the head so it would be instant. Then she  
wiped down the gun and dropped it near his limp hand. Suicides  
happened in places like this all the time.  
  
"It's done," she said to Brin when she got back into the car. Brin  
nodded, and started the engine. "You're not even going to check?"  
  
"They'll know if you lied," Brin said. Max supposed that was true.  
They only got a couple of feet into traffic before Brin jammed on the  
brakes. "Stupid," Brin muttered at the bike messenger who'd ridden  
haplessly into their path.  
  
Max could only watch as the messenger raised her head and looked at  
the people in the car who'd almost hit her. Her eyes locked with  
Original Cindy's, watching her old friend's expression turn to shock  
as they recognized each other. Brin honked the horn and stepped on  
the gas, and they left Seattle behind them. 


	8. Charmed

Okay?  
  
"You okay?" Sketchy asked Original Cindy when she arrived back at Jam  
Pony. "You look like you saw a ghost."  
  
Cindy just looked at him. There was no way she could tell him. He  
wouldn't understand. She didn't understand it herself. But he was  
looking at her, and she had to have some sort of answer...  
  
"She almost get hit by some car up the block," Herbal told Sketchy,  
then turned to Cindy. "You all good?"  
  
Original Cindy managed to smile. "Yeah, Original Cindy's all good,"  
she replied.   
  
"You need to be more careful," Normal said, pointing at her. "Bip, bip  
--" The scowl she cast at him from over crossed arms made his usual  
saying trail off into oblivion. "What?"  
  
"Didn't we have an understanding about you and that phrase?" Original  
Cindy demanded.  
  
"I remember no such agreement," Normal said, in a way that  
demonstrated he did remember, all too well. "I do remember an  
agreement on tipping, so hand it over."  
  
"Excuse me?" Original Cindy demanded.  
  
"The way you jumped on that delivery this morning, obviously the guy's  
a good tipper."  
  
"The guy's a old friend. He didn't give me no money," Original Cindy  
said, disgusted at the accusation.  
  
"I didn't realize you had old guy friends," Normal said.  
  
Original Cindy waved her hand and rolled her eyes, dismissing him.  
Normal sent Sketchy and Herbal out on deliveries, and once again it  
settled over her what she'd seen.  
  
It had definitely been Max.   
  
_ _ _  
  
"Hey, buddy. Thanks for the tryptophan," Logan said, on the phone with  
Sebastian later that day.  
  
"Is there any way I can help?" Sebastian offered.  
  
"Know anything about a plot to set off some nukes within a fairly  
short timeframe?" Logan inquired. "I've got bits and pieces, but I  
don't have the whole puzzle."  
  
"What about the May 22 Movement?" Sebastian asked.  
  
"They broke up after the death of their --" Logan began, but Sebastian  
was shaking his head. "They're still around?"  
  
"I've heard rumors. And they're not as squeamish under new  
management," Sebastian reported.  
  
"Anything substantiated?" Logan asked.  
  
"I'll work on it."  
  
"Thanks," Logan said, and hung up. There was a pounding on the door.  
"It's Grand Central station in here," he muttered to himself, going  
to answer it. Original Cindy stood there. "Didn't expect to see you  
again."  
  
"You lied to Original Cindy," she said.   
  
"I what?" This took Logan by surprise. He didn't lie to anyone.  
  
"You said Max was dead," Original Cindy accused. "I'm sure you thought  
it was all real funny."  
  
"No, I didn't," Logan said seriously. "What's this about?"  
  
"I saw her."  
  
"Max?" His shocked tone drew an interested look from Cindy.  
  
"You didn't know?" she asked, not sure whether she believed it or  
not.  
  
"I heard a rumor."  
  
"And?" Cindy prompted.  
  
"And, I don't know. It's impossible," he said. Yet, he'd seen her on  
the video. "You saw her?"  
  
Original Cindy nodded. "This afternoon, on Market Street. Damn near  
ran me down in some big-ass truck. Barely even stopped."  
  
"Max tried to hit you in a car?"  
  
"You doubtin' everything I'm sayin'?" Cindy demanded. "Fess up.  
Everything. Now." Logan continued to hesitate. "You can start with  
who that white girl was this morning."  
  
"Max's sister," Logan blurted.  
  
"You're disgusting. Men are *disgusting,*" Cindy declared.  
  
"It's not like that," said Logan. "She was having seizures."  
  
"Is that what they're calling it nowadays?" Her eyebrow went up.  
  
"Seizures like Max had," Logan explained. "She showed up here  
yesterday with information and a tape. I've only just begun trying to  
verify it."  
  
"Where is she now?"  
  
"She took off."  
  
"Figures," Original Cindy said. She met Logan's eyes. "If that was  
Max, we have to find her."  
  
"I know," he said. "But it's more complicated than that."  
  
"How complicated?" Cindy asked. "Like the stuff that got her killed   
complicated," she answered her own question. "Call me. I'll be there.  
Max's my girl."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Lie to me again and I'll kick your skinny white ass," Cindy  
threatened.  
  
"Understood," Logan confirmed.  
  
_ _ _  
  
"Well done, X5-452," Renfro said, facing Max from across the desk in  
her office back at Manticore. "I knew you had it in you, soldier."  
  
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you," Max replied.  
  
"Sit down," Renfro said, and Max did as she was told. It was all a cat  
and mouse game. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"  
  
"No, ma'am," Max reported. Renfro waited. Max said nothing.  
  
"I want to know where the others are."  
  
"I don't know that," Max said. She was surprised it had taken this  
long for the question to come up. Although she had been questioned  
before, under sedation, during her recovery. Not by the bitch in  
charge, though.   
  
"Come on, Max," she wheedled invitingly. "You know this is the best  
place for them."  
  
Max refused to say anything.  
  
"They could be sick, like Brin was. If you tell us where they are, we  
can help them."  
  
"I don't know where they are," Max said again.   
  
"What about the others with you that night?" Renfro pressed. "You must  
know how to contact them."  
  
"Only Zack knew," Max said. "And he took that information with him to  
the grave." Her voice was cold. There was only so far she'd allow  
herself to be pushed.  
  
"And after he gave you so much, Max?" Renfro said. As much as Max  
hated being referred to as a number, she hated it more when that  
woman referred to them by name. Max just glared at her, prepared to  
sit there and glare until the end of time, if necessary. "You may  
go."  
  
Max stood and straightened her uniform, then reached for the  
doorknob.  
  
"I will find them, X5-452," Renfro cautioned.   
  
"Yes, ma'am," Max replied, and returned to the dorm, since it was  
after lights- out already. She undressed quickly and slipped into her  
bed.  
  
"You came back," Eva whispered.  
  
"I had to," Max replied. But she frowned as she whispered it. Maybe  
she shouldn't have come back. Maybe she should have run when she had  
the chance. But her debt hadn't been paid. She had the opportunity to  
completely destroy Manticore from the inside out. She wanted to get  
the others out. She wanted to kill Renfro. Make sure Manticore was  
good and truly dead. And the only way to do that was from the  
inside.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Logan got the name of the new leader of the May 22 Movement from  
Sebastian. And wasn't it funny how terrorist organizations had listed  
telephone numbers -- especially organizations that supposedly  
eschewed technology. But then, May 22 had always been more concerned  
with the way that technology was used. "I want to meet with someone,"  
Logan said.  
  
"You're not one of us," the man who answered the phone said.  
  
"No," Logan confirmed. "I'm a journalist. I can help you tell your  
story to the world."   
  
"Last time you offered to help us tell our story, five of our people  
ended up dead, including John Darius."  
  
"Last time, you also tried to throw me off the roof of a very tall  
building," Logan pointed out. "I'm willing to overlook it."  
  
"Why now?"  
  
"I've got some information that indicates it might be in your best  
interest to get your story out there in the next couple of weeks," he  
said, letting them know that he knew what was going to happen.  
  
"I see."  
  
"I thought you might," Logan said.  
  
"Hold please."  
  
Logan took a deep breath while he was waiting. It always had to be  
complicated, he thought. If May 22 just wanted to destroy Manticore,  
that would be fine. But no, they had to decide to destroy all  
technology, just when things were beginning to work again. And he had  
to save Max. Logan would defend Manticore until his dying day if it  
meant seeing Max again, safe and sound, no matter how much he  
disagreed with their principles.  
  
"We'll meet in the City Gardens in one hour. And come alone, Mr.  
Cale," the voice on the other end of the telephone line cooed before  
the call disconnected.  
  
One hour. Not much time.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Original Cindy went from Logan's to Crash. She could use a drink after  
that conversation. Sketchy and Herbal and the others were there, and  
it was comfortable to sit down with them and have a brew.   
  
"Check that out," Sketchy said, nudging Herbal. Then he looked at  
Original Cindy. "Hell, you'd be interested too."  
  
"Mmm-hmm, sugar," Cindy muttered, although she hadn't had much use for  
pretty girls since she'd lost Diamond and Max all in the same month.  
But she turned and looked anyway.  
  
Leather pants, little red top. Long blond ponytail cascading down her  
back. "Sweet," Sketchy declared.  
  
"I know that bitch," Original Cindy declared, getting up.  
  
Sketchy turned to Herbal. "Why are the good ones always gay?" he  
demanded.  
  
"Hey. You," Original Cindy marched over to Jondy, who turned and gave  
her a cool look. "Logan's looking for you."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jondy said, turning back to  
the bartender. "I've got experience," she said to him. "I'm a hard  
worker."  
  
"You're applying for a job?" Original Cindy demanded.   
  
"A girl's got to pay the rent," Jondy informed her. "So, we have a  
deal?"  
  
The bartender looked from Cindy to Jondy and back again, and shook his  
head.  
  
"Maybe Seattle's not the place for me after all," Jondy said easily,  
turning from the bar and heading straight for the door.  
  
"Hey, I'm talking to you," Cindy said. She wasn't about to go trailing  
after some girl. But Jondy didn't stop walking. "I saw Max," she  
said.  
  
"You're lying." Jondy didn't even pause.  
  
"Logan needs your help."  
  
"Oh, didn't you ask him? Logan doesn't need anyone," Jondy said. She  
had Max's same sarcastic streak, Cindy noted. And she also possibly  
had Max's crush on the man, which Original Cindy couldn't see at all,  
thank you very much.  
  
"You don't wanna stay with him, you can come stay with me," Cindy  
offered.  
  
"What's in it for you?" Jondy demanded.  
  
"You're Max's sister. I'm Max's friend. We got our hearts in the same  
place," Cindy replied.  
  
Jondy considered this for a second. "Okay," she said reluctantly.  
  
"Good, then you buy the first round," Cindy told her. "I gotta go drop  
a dime." She pointed Jondy to the table where Sketchy and Herbal were  
sitting, and headed to the pay phone.  
  
"You reached the number you dialed," Logan's voice on his answering  
machine intoned. That boy sure tried hard to have an attitude,  
Original Cindy thought.  
  
"Yo, Logan. Original Cindy found your stray." That told him everything  
he needed to know.  
  
_ _ _  
  
They woke them all in the middle of the night. Gave them ten minutes  
to dress and report. As they filed into the central hall, Max saw  
they weren't the only ones who'd been given the order. All the staff  
was present, as were the other groups.  
  
Not many of us, Max thought. Manticore is a rare breed these days. She  
counted three of the X-4s, although some of them were bound to be out  
on assignment. There were 10 X-5, including herself. X-6 had been  
decimated before the '09 escape by a virus that reacted with their  
enhanced DNA. It had been a total loss. And the project had stopped  
with the X-7s. Twenty of them were still alive at age nine.   
  
No one else seemed bothered by the resemblance between the X-7s and  
the X-5s. They weren't clones; clones were perfect copies. The X-7s  
had their DNA pushed much farther than X-5 DNA would go. The X-7s  
knew it, too, and they were stuck up little brats, all of them  
believing they were perfect.  
  
Max wondered how the half of them felt, not seeing the older version  
of themself. Knowing their predecessor had been murdered in one way  
or another, a victim of their genes or the ones who'd created them.  
She found herself watching X7-599. She couldn't call him Zack.  
  
Is this really what we looked like? She asked herself, looking at  
them. They were just little kids.  
  
She blinked and suddenly the group was breaking up. "What's going on?"  
she asked.  
  
"Should have paid attention, 452," Brin said, reprimanding.  
  
"It's a drill," Eva said.  
  
A drill, thought Max, watching as people rushed to stations and  
pre-set positions. They hadn't had drills when she was a child. They  
hadn't needed them. No one had escaped before that, as far as she  
knew.  
  
As far as she knew...where had that come from? Max asked herself as  
she moved with her partner to her assigned station. Why would she  
think such a thing? And once she'd thought it, she couldn't get it  
out of her mind.  
  
Maybe there were others out there.  
  
_ _ _  
  
The City Gardens were deserted. It wasn't that late, but the denizens  
of Seattle had better things to do in the dark than look at flowers.  
Logan stood there, waiting. Wondering if he'd been stood up like  
somebody's bad date.  
  
The flowers weren't even in good shape, he thought, shifting to look  
more closely at the wild flora threatening to overgrow the walkway.  
Bugs had been feasting, and there were more weeds and wildflowers  
than rare plants.  
  
"I'd be careful with that if I were you." The voice of warning came  
from directly behind him, although Logan had heard no footsteps nor  
been aware of any sign that someone was approaching.  
  
"And why's that?" Logan asked.  
  
"It's hungry." The other man brushed past him and put his finger near  
the flower, which opened its petals as though they were jaws. He  
pulled his fingers away just before the petals snapped closed.  
  
Great, man-eating plants. And they said no radiation had been released  
during the pulse, Logan thought, checking out how very large the  
carnivorous plant was.   
  
"What did you want to talk about, Mr. Cale?"   
  
Logan finally turned and took in the May 22 group's operative. He'd  
expected them to send a lackey, but from the way this man spoke and  
behaved, Logan thought this was their new leader. The guy was tall  
and athletic, healthy looking, with the scruffy hair of a rebel  
leader hanging over the collar of his shirt. But there was something  
dark and sinister in the way his eyes shifted. "I heard on fairly  
good authority that you intend to detonate an electromagnetic   
pulse sometime in the near future."  
  
"That's highly classified information, Mr. Cale," the rebel said  
silkily, as though it didn't bother him at all. "I'd be curious to  
find out who told you such a thing."  
  
"I'm more curious to find out whether it's true."  
  
"So you can warn people, I presume?"   
  
"How do you know I wouldn't be interested in helping you?" Logan kept  
his voice even and bland. Not offering to help. Just asking why the  
other man would automatically jump to a different conclusion.  
  
The rebel merely scoffed, as though he knew Logan better than he knew  
himself. "I thought you were here to get a story."  
  
"There are other outlets than the Free Press," Logan said. "Might be  
good for your cause."  
  
"Are you sure you know what my cause is, Mr. Cale?" the rebel  
inquired. Logan wished he'd stop calling him "Mr. Cale." He also knew  
that the rebel was doing it purposely to annoy him, just as the rebel  
hadn't offered his name. "Last time I checked, we had a reputation  
for being Luddites."  
  
"If I believed you were Luddites, I wouldn't believe you had the  
technology capable of generating an electromagnetic pulse," Logan  
pointed out. "Funny how it takes technology to destroy technology."  
  
"Much as it takes a thief to catch a thief, isn't that how the old  
saying goes? But our concern isn't technology on its own."  
  
"Bio-engineering makes you particularly upset, if I recall correctly,"  
Logan said. "At least, that was John Darius's agenda."  
  
The rebel looked at him and Logan knew he was making up his mind.  
"Come on. You can see our set-up for yourself."  
  
"Okay," said Logan, following as the rebel took off at a rapid clip,  
threading his way where paths once existed but had fallen to ruin.  
The plants closed in behind him, as though they knew this man and  
were also involved in his cause. "What's your name, by the way?"  
Logan called as he struggled to catch up.  
  
"You can call me Ned."  
  
_ _ _  
  
One of the doors inside Original Cindy's apartment was closed, so of  
course Jondy had to know what lay behind it. She glanced back to make  
sure she wouldn't get caught, and then turned the handle.  
  
The air smelled musty, unused. The room had been closed up for a long  
time. Inside was a bed. Someone's belongings. And a very nice  
motorcycle. Jondy knew Cindy was behind her for several seconds  
before she turned. "That's where you can stay," Cindy told her.  
  
"Nice bike. Not yours," Jondy judged.  
  
"It was Max's. This was her crib."  
  
"And you didn't sell her stuff."  
  
"Touch her bike and she'll kill you," Cindy warned.  
  
"She'd have to find me first," Jondy offered, joking. It went back to  
their Manticore childhood. Of course Cindy wouldn't know that. "What  
makes you think she's still alive?"  
  
"I know my girl," Cindy said stubbornly. The expression on her face  
told Jondy she knew more than she was telling. Cindy reached for the  
door and pulled it closed, centimeters from Jondy's nose. "Talk to  
me."  
  
"What --"  
  
"Start with where you came from and what you're doing here. I know  
what you are," Original Cindy said.   
  
"I don't answer questions."  
  
"You just ask 'em," Cindy pointed out. "That ain't the way the deal  
works, sugar, you dig?"  
  
Jondy rolled her eyes. "Maybe this was a mistake."  
  
"You know where the door is." Cindy knew Jondy wouldn't go, because  
Jondy wanted something. She just hadn't yet figured out what that  
something was.   
  
"Tell me about Max," Jondy requested.  
  
"Tell me about Manticore."  
  
"You don't want to know." Jondy was perfectly truthful.   
  
"How come you never came to see Max before this?"  
  
"Didn't know where to look." And Zack had made a point of that. Once,  
when she'd insisted, he'd given her a location. She'd spent days  
combing the streets of Dodge City, Kansas before she realized it had  
all been a goosechase. But it had worked; she'd never asked him  
again, just kept looking on her own. She didn't know how Zack had  
managed to find as many of the others as he had. Jondy had   
never been able to find any of them. Krit and Syl had tracked her down  
after the raid and given her the news. They hadn't said so, but she  
suspected Logan had hacked Zack's contact number, or Krit and Syl  
would have been just as much in the dark as the rest of them. Zack  
had liked it that way. Said it was safer. Maybe he was right.  
  
Jondy became aware Cindy had been watching her while she was lost in  
thought. "So where's the name come from?" she asked.  
  
"Original Cindy has always been the original," she replied, not  
terribly helpfully. Then she relented, with a conspiratorial smile.  
"So my grandma used to say."  
  
"Where is she now?" Jondy asked.  
  
"She was killed in the riots after the Pulse," Cindy said.   
  
"A lot of people were," Jondy replied. Meaningless words. This entire  
conversation was stupid and meaningless, and beginning to irritate  
her. She'd heard Cindy's phone call to Logan in the bar and knew the  
girl was trying to detain her long enough for him to ride to the  
rescue. Maybe he'd heard and decided not to bother. Maybe she was  
just wasting her time in Seattle, time that would be better spent  
finding her brothers and sisters and enlisting them in her   
war, rather than trying to win the help of Max's civilian friends.  
  
"Well, I can't say it's been fun, but Original Cindy's got work in the  
morning," she said, getting up. Jondy wondered why she referred to  
herself in the third person. "'Night."  
  
Jondy raised her hand and wiggled her fingers in a pretentious wave.  
Once the door to the other bedroom closed, Jondy turned to look in  
the direction of Max's room. It felt wrong to go through her sister's  
stuff, especially when it'd been sitting there untouched for so long,  
just waiting for her to come back for it. But Jondy had never been  
one to let her conscience get in her way.  
  
_ _ _  
  
The entire complex had powered down for the drill, which meant Max was  
wandering through endless corridors in the dark. But she could see in  
the dark and so could the others, so that didn't matter. She glanced  
at one of the hallway security cameras as she passed it, wondering if  
they continued to function. A fair guess they did; otherwise, how  
would those in charge monitor their progress?  
  
Searching rooms for intruders was a dull task. Max wasn't expecting to  
find any, since this was just a drill. Which is perhaps why she ended  
up getting her head slammed into the tile wall checking the swimming  
area.  
  
She fought back instantly, ramming her attacker into the floor. He  
went down easily, so she knew he wasn't Manticore. "You picked the  
wrong night to break in here," she told him, turning him over on the  
floor with her foot and pinning him there. She figured it was a guard  
and wanted to relieve him of his tazer before she got juiced with it  
again.  
  
"Who are you?" she demanded. "What do you want?"  
  
He gazed back at her with the determined expression of one who would  
never tell, so Max applied a little pressure to his ribcage with her  
foot. She was wearing big, heavy boots. It'd be easy to get carried  
away and snap his bones like ripping through a spiderweb early in the  
morning. Even at the point where she had to be hurting him, he  
offered no protest. The lack of fear in his eyes annoyed her.  
  
Max let up and grabbed him, pulling him to his feet. "You wanna fight?  
See if you can take me?" she offered. "You can take me, I'll let you  
go." It was a hollow offer. He couldn't take her. He probably  
couldn't even take your average street thug, considering how scrawny  
his arms were.  
  
He punched her. "Was that supposed to hurt?" she taunted, bouncing  
lightly so the next time he swung, he missed by a mile. She caught  
him off balance and knocked him against the wall, twirling for a kick  
that landed squarely in his stomach. He went down again, unable to  
hold in the grunt of pain.  
  
Max waited. "I thought you wanted to get away," she teased when he'd  
lain there too long. She was starting to get bored, and she didn't  
want to be bored. The little bit of fighting had let loose a flow of  
adrenaline her veins, pumping strong and hard with every beat of her  
heart. She wanted to kick somebody's ass. She hit him with her foot  
and he curled up.  
  
"Hey," she said, raising her foot to kick her again. He grabbed her  
ankle and held on. Max tried to cartwheel it off, but he shifted on  
the ground and got in the way of her hands. They tumbled together  
into the pool.  
  
He tried to hold her head under the water. That amused Max. He really  
didn't know what he was dealing with, did he? Where had they found  
this guy? She yanked on his shirt and pulled him under with her. He  
struggled, hard, breaking the surface long enough to suck some air  
into his lungs. He faced her, holding his breath with cheeks puffed  
out. As though he could outlast her.  
  
Max forced him to the bottom of the pool. She held his head next to  
the bubbling drain. Too bad he hadn't met an X-7. Then he'd really  
have been surprised. They had gills, or so she'd heard. He started to  
thrash. The horror on his face intensified when he looked at her,  
standing there so calmly with no need to breathe. Max could feel his  
terror as part of the excitement that flowed through her.  
  
His eyes rolled up and back, and his thrashing stopped.  
  
Max continued to stand on the bottom of the pool. Suddenly shaky,  
wondering what to do. She hadn't meant to kill him. She'd just wanted  
someone to play with. And now she was torn between leaving him there  
and bringing him to the surface to revive him. What would Manticore  
want her to do? He was the enemy, wasn't he?  
  
But he was just a person. He didn't know any better.  
  
Others burst in through the doors. Max looked up at them through the  
clear blue water. Even as they reached in to drag the body out, she  
remained at the bottom of the pool, watching them. As though they  
existed in some other world than she did. What was she supposed to  
do?  
  
Hands reached for her next, dragging her out as they had the corpse.  
His eyes were open now, white and filmy. His skin was already  
starting to swell and darken, signs of his drowning. "Congratulations  
, X5-452." It was Renfro's voice, but Max wasn't really listening.  
They'd wanted her to kill him.   
  
And she'd been happy to do it. 


	9. Without

Torn  
  
The motorcycle tore through the night, screaming up the street at an  
impossible rate of speed. Jondy's hair streamed out behind her, then  
whipped into her eyes as she took a turn. She wanted to laugh, this  
was so much fun.   
  
It felt disappointing that she reached her destination so quickly.  
Squinting up from the street, she saw there were no lights on in the  
penthouse, which is where she was going. Good, she'd surprise him,  
she thought.  
  
She retraced her steps from the previous day, scaling quickly up the  
building and slipping inside from the roof. The rich didn't really  
take enough precautions, and the fact that the penthouse was always  
on the top floor made it so much easier for burglars to get inside.  
Not that a residence on a middle floor would have slowed her down.  
  
Logan's apartment was silent. She half-expected to find him sacked out  
with his head on the computer table again, but the computer room was  
empty and the terminals shut off. Quickly she peeked into his  
bedroom, but he wasn't there, either.   
  
Jondy had an agenda, but now that she was standing in his bedroom, she  
had the urge to snoop. It always got her into trouble. She remembered  
getting caught looking through Tinga's footlocker one day when they  
were about five. From there, she'd moved on to better and more  
challenging feats of curiosity, like Lydecker's personal quarters,  
which had been nearly as dull as their commander himself. After the  
escape, her penchant for snooping had come in handy as she   
bounced through foster homes. Purposely getting caught had even helped  
liberate her from a few. And then there were the boyfriends and  
roommates and employers who hadn't really appreciated her interest in  
them -- or rather, their stuff.  
  
Logan had a lot of hair crap for someone whose hair stuck straight up,  
she thought. There was nothing of interest in the medicine cabinet.  
Medicine cabinets just weren't as fascinating as they had been in the  
heyday of prescription drugs, before the pulse, Jondy lamented. Then  
she struck snooper gold -- an entire drawer filled with photographs,  
business cards, scrawled-on napkins, love letters and god knew what  
else. It was locked, but that didn't even slow her down. She plucked  
a small, well-thumbed book from the top of the heap and sat down on  
the bed to read it.  
  
Poems. Jondy giggled, because they were really bad. But at some point,  
she stopped snickering and stretched out, turning the pages with  
increasing fascination. She was aware she was wasting precious time,  
and somewhere in the back of her mind was the nagging knowledge that  
if Logan came in and found her tangled up in his sheets reading his  
diary he was going to be pissed, but she didn't care. This was too  
good to be passed up.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Ned led Logan through the back of the gardens and through a hole in  
the fence, which gave way to dense woods. It was a short hike through  
the trees to a small complex of tents and lean-tos. Logan raised an  
eyebrow. This was how terrorists lived?  
  
"I realize it's not as fancy as you might have hoped," Ned drawled, in  
that same tone he'd taken in the gardens. As though he was the cat  
and Logan was a ball of string. Inside the lean-to was a trap door in  
the dirt, which was locked. Logan watched as Ned twirled the  
combination impossibly fast, his fingers flying. He'd only known one  
person who could move that quickly. Ned turned and looked at him   
as though he could sense Logan's thoughts.  
  
"Into the breach," he said, holding the door open. Logan couldn't see  
anything inside; the tunnel was completely dark. Reluctantly, he went  
first, through the opening, into the darkness. He heard Ned land  
lightly on his feet, and the slam as the door closed automatically  
behind them.  
  
Logan began feeling his way along the wall, completely blinded by the  
absence of light. "Hope you don't mind," Ned said, seizing Logan's  
hand and pulling him down the hall, moving easily, as though he could  
see in the darkness. He's just used to it, Logan told himself, but  
suddenly he wasn't so sure. He tried to count steps and directions so  
he'd be able to find his way back, but they made so many twists and  
turns, he quickly lost track.  
  
Note to self, carry flashlight, Logan thought.  
  
Ned unlocked another door. It must have raised markings he can feel in  
the darkness, Logan thought, but as low light leaked from inside the  
room after the door was open, he looked back and saw the lock was  
completely smooth. His frown deepened.   
  
"Feeling a bit trapped?" Ned asked casually as he pulled the door  
closed behind them. The lights were on a dimmer switch and Ned  
gradually brightened them, revealing a pristinely clean research  
room. Logan's eyes were drawn to the computers lined up along one  
table. "You think we're hypocritical."  
  
"I have no judgement, actually," Logan stated.  
  
"We had to be certain it would work," Ned told him. "Would you like to  
see a demonstration?" He walked over to the computer table and  
fingered a small device.  
  
"I don't think that would be a good idea," Logan told him. Now he felt  
scared. An electromagnetic field could and probably would take out  
the exoskeleton, leaving him paralyzed and at the mercy of  
terrorists. "I believe you can do it," he added.  
  
Ned laughed. It was a harsh, unnatural sound that prickled the skin at  
the back of Logan's neck.  
  
"What I don't understand is why," Logan said.  
  
"They're using technology to create a new breed of soldier." Ned  
looked at him. "You're too young to have been in the Balkan War."  
  
"Yeah," Logan said.  
  
Ned was still tapping the device. "Are you sure you don't want to  
see?"  
  
"I'm sure," Logan stated. "Where are the others?"  
  
"They don't like to come down here," Ned explained.  
  
"But this is where you're going to shelter yourselves from the pulse  
when you detonate it," Logan said. That much was obvious.  
  
"There's no real need to seek shelter from the pulse itself. The human  
body is able to withstand a great deal more magnetic pull than  
computers can. But the chaos after..." Ned finally put down his  
test-sized device and Logan relaxed.  
  
"I would think you'd want to use the chaos to your advantage."  
  
"Once the pulse is set off, our work will largely be done," Ned said.  
"People weren't smart enough to get it the first time around.  
Technology feeds war, and war destroys lives. The old, simple ways  
are best."  
  
"Why do you believe that so strongly?" Logan inquired.  
  
"Do you know what technology has created?" Ned asked. "It's not just  
about the megacorporations and the television networks and the  
hoverdrones. Robots are costing people jobs. They're costing them  
their lives. Computers affect every walk of human life. There's a  
wellspring of projects to manipulate everything from crops to human  
genetics."  
  
"Which one offends you the most?" Logan asked.  
  
"You ask a lot of questions."  
  
"I'm still a reporter," Logan reminded him.  
  
Ned nodded. "I am, of course, offended by it all."  
  
"Surely there's one thing that stands out," Logan prodded.  
  
"Let me show you our preparations," Ned offered, moving into the next  
room, which was brightly lit.  
  
"UV?" Logan asked.  
  
"Clever, aren't they?" Ned asked. "No microchips involved. They're  
basically solar panels. Go ahead, check it out."  
  
Logan peered into the light, then turned it this way and that. It was  
connected to a thin tube, which connected to a larger tube running up  
through the earthen ceiling. Most of the panel was coated with  
reflective, almost mirror-like surfacing.   
  
"Works better than those hydroponics experiments. So twentieth-century  
," Ned continued. He moved among the crops that were growing in the  
soil. "Looks puny because you're used to the genetically engineered  
stuff, but look at that color." He plucked an apple from a small  
tree. "Taste that."  
  
"I already ate," said Logan.  
  
"You're a cautious man. Perhaps too cautious," Ned said, taking a  
deep, crunchy bite of the apple and letting its juice run down his  
chin.  
  
"I think I've seen enough," Logan said, not looking forward to the  
journey out.  
  
"Are you going to expose us?"  
  
"If I did, would it change your plans?"  
  
"You don't approve. Pity," said Ned. "I thought you were a true  
believer." He started for the door and for one long, claustrophobic  
second, Logan thought the other man was going to leave him behind.  
"Aren't you coming?" Ned glanced back at him.  
  
"Right behind you," Logan reported, following closely. Staring at the  
back of Ned's skull.   
  
"Just need to grab a few things," Ned said, moving quickly and  
gathering some supplies from here and there in the main room into a  
cloth sack, which he slung over his shoulder. The strap brushed  
against the hair at the back of his neck, revealing, for the briefest  
second before he cut the lights, plunging them into darkness, exactly  
what Logan had expected to see there.  
  
The thin black lines of a barcode tattoo.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Max stood at attention in Renfro's office, trying to hide the fact  
that she was completely freaking out.  
  
"How did it make you feel?" the woman hissed at her.  
  
"I didn't feel anything," Max lied.  
  
Renfro chuckled. "I'm on to you, Max," she said, her lips curling up  
into the evil semblance of a smile. Max said nothing. Kept her  
expression blank. "I know you like it. Killing them. You'd kill me  
now if you had the opportunity."  
  
You'd better believe it, Max thought.  
  
"You...and Brin...you're not like the others," Renfro continued.  
  
Would Brin kill Renfro, given the opportunity? If so, kissing her ass  
was a pretty funny way of showing it.  
  
"As much as I hate to admit it, the time you spent fending for  
yourselves out there made you stronger. Not better soldiers -- the  
amount of training you missed can never be recovered, especially  
during your formative years," the woman continued. "But it's given  
you hatred. And passion. It's given you the edge that even the X-7s  
lack."  
  
Max continued to stand there, saying nothing.   
  
Renfro cocked her head. "What do you think I should do about that,  
Max?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know, ma'am." As Lydecker used to tell them repeatedly, they  
weren't there to stand around and think. Max felt a twinge, knowing  
Lydecker was dead now, and at her hand. Compared to Renfro, he'd been  
a saint.   
  
"We'll have to give it some consideration, won't we, Max?" Renfro  
suggested.  
  
"Of course," Max responded.  
  
Renfro nodded, apparently satisfied. "Dismissed."  
  
What the hell was that? Max asked herself. It was only fifteen minutes  
before their usual rising time, so it was a good thing she didn't  
need any sleep. Max's second thought was more important: how could  
she use it to her advantage?  
  
_ _ _  
  
Jondy jumped when she heard the front door slam. Mere seconds later,  
Logan appeared. He stopped short in the doorway to his bedroom. Jondy  
managed a smile. "I wasn't expecting you back."  
  
"Obviously." Logan didn't move, just stood there, staring at her.  
  
"Sorry about this." Jondy started to get up, tossing back the covers  
she'd pulled around herself.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"I wanted to find out where my brothers and sisters are. I have the  
feeling you know more than you're telling," Jondy said.  
  
"And you thought you'd find it in my journal?" Logan asked.  
  
"Girl's gotta start somewhere," she shrugged.  
  
"Wouldn't the computer have been a more logical place?"  
  
"Logic's overrated," she said, with a wicked grin. She was having  
trouble feeling ashamed of herself. It was sort of fun throwing him  
so far off guard.  
  
"Get out of here," he growled.  
  
"But then you'd miss me," Jondy said. She still had the book in her  
hands, moving her fingers lightly over the worn leather cover. Logan  
crossed the room in an instant and ripped it away from her, flinging  
it. It hit the wall so hard, some pages bounced out of it. "What's  
got you so worked up?" Jondy asked, playing innocent again.  
  
"I've had enough. Of you, of Manticore, all of it. You want the  
information, it's on the computer. Nice and easy, in a file called  
X-5. The password's Max. Take it and get out."  
  
"I'm going to start thinking you don't like me," Jondy said.  
  
He shoved her toward the door.   
  
"You don't really want to get in a fight with me. You'll lose," Jondy  
cautioned.  
  
"Shut up!" Logan yelled.  
  
That's when the room began to shake. Logan reached for the wall to  
hang on, his first thought of an earthquake. But this was more subtle  
than an earthquake, more of a vibration. A loud buzzing filled the  
air, strong enough to make his teeth ache. The lights hummed as they  
slowly faded to off, as though all the power had been sucked directly  
out of them.   
  
His knees buckled, and he hit the ground hard.  
  
It stopped as quickly as it had began. "I didn't --" Jondy's eyes were  
wide with fear.  
  
"I know," Logan said.  
  
"What was that?" she asked, a tremor in her voice.  
  
"Electromagnetic pulse," Logan said. From where he sat on the floor he  
could see outside. Lights continued to glow, cars moved down the  
street in orderly patterns. "Localized, by the looks of it."   
  
"Get up," said Jondy.  
  
Ned must have slipped the device to him somehow with his noticing it.  
Set it on a timer, Logan thought, working it out. He was furious,  
mostly with himself, for being so stupid and naive as to think he  
could go meet with May 22 without repercussions.  
  
"Get up," Jondy said again.  
  
"I can't," Logan told her. The look Jondy shot him was wild. She  
didn't know. How could she -- he'd never told her. And even though  
his journal would have told her more than enough about his private  
feelings for Max, he'd never written so much as one word about his  
severed spine. Some feelings ran too deep for words.  
  
He sighed. "Open the closet," he said in a very calm voice. Jondy did  
as she was told. "Reach in the back." She stuck her arm inside as  
though she thought a monster living in there would bite her fingers  
off. "You're looking for a wheelchair." Jondy looked over her  
shoulder at him. He nodded.  
  
She pulled it out of the closet. She stared at him. He wished she  
would look away as he used his arms to pull himself up into the  
chair. It was more of a struggle than it should have been. He'd grown  
too dependent on the exoskeleton. Another mistake.   
  
He wheeled into the computer room, knowing what he'd find. He checked  
anyway, going through the motions, testing his lifeless equipment.  
"Damn," he said. The word was completely inadequate.  
  
"I don't understand," Jondy said. She'd completely lost her tough  
veneer.  
  
"I met with the terrorists who are planning to re-pulse the world,"  
Logan said. "He must have planted something on me. Worked, too." He  
rolled out of the computer room to where he'd dropped his jacket when  
he came inside. There it was, inside his pocket, small enough to fit  
inside the palm of his hand. "Guess I wasn't as convincing as I  
thought." He tossed it to Jondy and she caught it, looking at it  
briefly before dropping it disinterestedly on the table. "As it   
happens, the leader of the group has a special interest in Manticore,"  
Logan continued.  
  
"What's that?" Jondy asked.  
  
"They created him." 


	10. Blueprint

Remained  
  
Max remained where she stood long enough for Renfro to look back up at  
her. "I said you were dismissed," she said.  
  
"What about the others?" Max asked.  
  
"Are you ready to give up their locations now?"  
  
Max shook her head. "I don't know where they are," she said, again.  
She'd said it so many times it was beginning to sound like a lie to  
her own ears. "I mean the X-3s."  
  
"How do you know about that?" Renfro demanded. Her face had gone a  
deep shade of white before turning bright pink with fury.  
  
Max smiled. "Wouldn't they have an edge, too?" she suggested. She'd  
been right.  
  
Renfro recovered herself, modulating her voice and her posture. She  
couldn't make her face unflush from the jolt of anger, though. "I  
want to know where you got your information," she said calmly.  
  
"I don't know much," Max bluffed. "There were how many...two,  
three?...that got away." She was walking on thin ice here.  
  
"Three."  
  
"And you still weren't prepared in '09, when we escaped."  
  
"There had been no trouble with the X-4s," Renfro replied. "We saw no  
reason to be cautious. We've learned from our mistakes." Renfro  
contemplated her carefully. "Sit down."  
  
Max reached for the chair, and did as she was told.  
  
"I've always wondered how you got away that night."  
  
"Why not ask Brin?"  
  
"I have," Renfro asked. "Now I'm asking you."  
  
Did that mean Brin hadn't answered her? "It started when Lydecker shot  
Eva," Max began. It had actually started earlier than that. When the  
guards came for her during a seizure. The others had acted so Max  
wouldn't be taken away as Jack had been.  
  
Renfro waved her hand. "I don't want to hear that again." She leaned  
in closer. "I want the real story."  
  
As far as Max was concerned, that was the real story.  
  
"You don't know," Renfro said, a smile overtaking her.   
  
"Know what?" Max asked.  
  
"Lydecker let you kids escape," Renfro told her. "And what do you  
know? Good old Deck turned out to be right. It did make you  
stronger."  
  
Max's mind struggled to process that information. To figure out what  
it meant. Lydecker let them escape? It didn't make any sense.  
  
"Where he failed was in getting too attached," Renfro continued. "He  
resisted bringing you back in when the experiment was over."  
  
"It was just another experiment?" Max asked.  
  
"Did you really think you could just escape right from under our  
noses?" Renfro asked. "That a bunch of stupid kids who knew nothing  
about the world would succeed in hiding from *us* for ten years?" She  
chuckled. "That's the one thing we've got to work on in the X-8  
series. Those egos really get in the way of clear thinking. You'd  
better get to roll call."  
  
Woodenly, Max got out of her chair and walked into the hall. Her feet  
carried her back to the dorm, held her at attention as she checked in  
for the beginning of the day. But her mind was reeling with the  
things she'd been told.  
  
_ _ _  
  
"He's one of us?" Jondy asked. She sat down on the couch and pulled  
her knees up, looking more lost than confused.  
  
"In a way," Logan said. "He wasn't X-5. He was older than that."  
  
"What would he be doing out here?" Jondy asked. "Could they have --"  
  
"They didn't send him," Logan said. "He's hellbent on destroying  
Manticore. Taking down the rest of the world is just to ensure they  
never have the opportunity to do it again."  
  
"So that means...another escape?" Jondy asked, her voice rising.  
  
"Must have been," Logan reasoned.  
  
"But there wasn't --"  
  
"Jondy," Logan said gently, and she jumped at the sound of her name.  
Or maybe it was the way he said it. "You were only nine when you  
escaped. There had to have been a lot of things you didn't know."  
  
"It's impossible," Jondy said, but he could see her mind was working  
on it, that it wasn't so impossible after all. "X-3," she said, then  
looked at him. "X-1 was a total wash, the X-2s who lived were the  
'nomalies. X-4 was a complete squadron at the time of the escape, we  
trained with them. So it must be X-3."  
  
"It's a start," Logan said.  
  
"Logan, what happened to you?" Jondy asked.  
  
"I got shot." He intended for that to be the end of the discussion.  
  
"But -- you were --"  
  
Logan reached down and pulled up his pantleg, far enough to reveal the  
brace around his lower leg. "It was a DOD prototype. It runs on  
microchip servo- motors." Then he corrected himself. "Ran. It's pretty  
much ruined now, after being nuked by the localized EMP your brother  
put on me."  
  
"So you're --"  
  
He held her gaze. "My spinal cord's severed."  
  
"I'm sorry," Jondy said.  
  
"Don't be." He looked way, completely shutting down his emotions.  
"We've got bigger problems. Namely, the loss of my equipment." It was  
going to be impossible to replace. Especially the stuff he used for  
his cable hacks. Most of that stuff had completely disappeared from  
the black market. Too much risk to anyone using it if the authorities  
thought they'd found Eyes Only.  
  
"You said you knew where the other X-5s are," Jondy said.  
  
"I was tracking them. It was all on my computer."  
  
"You didn't have back-ups."  
  
"Not off-site. Too risky." It was ironic, really. Now it appeared it  
had been too risky not to store them off-site. But who had ever  
expected a room-sized EMP?  
  
"What are we going to do?" Jondy asked.  
  
"We'll figure something out," Logan said. "Are you hungry? I think  
there's leftovers in the fridge." He'd never known an X-5 not to be  
hungry. While she went to retrieve the food, he lit the candles on  
the table so they wouldn't be sitting in the darkness. She returned  
with various plastic containers and shoved a couple in his direction.  
They ate silently.  
  
_ _ _  
  
They were going hunting this morning, as though the drill hadn't been  
bad enough. Max wondered who the man had been that she'd killed that  
morning. She had no way of knowing anything more than he'd been an  
intruder, and that was more than enough reason for his death.  
  
She glanced over at the eager X-7s, who hung on every word of the  
commanding officer explaining procedures. She remembered that  
feeling, barely. Of being pumped up, excited. Then tracking a man  
through the woods and ripping him to shreds.  
  
Being here with them was probably some sort of punishment, Max  
thought, since she was the only one of her age group present. Then  
again, she was considered to be on the same training level as the  
younger kids, since that's where her training had ended when she  
escaped. The signal was given, and they started out in a pack,  
hunting their prey.  
  
Max separated from the group, heading up through the trees on her own.  
She felt the hard stare of one of the X-7s on her back, but she  
didn't turn. She didn't want anything to do with the ones who'd shot  
her, shot Zack. They'd only been doing as they were ordered, and she  
knew it, but she still hated them for it. If not for them, she would  
still be free.  
  
She could smell the man they were hunting. The scent of his fear  
overpowered the clean woodland air. Who was he, she wondered? Some  
poor sap who thought he'd been given a reprieve from prison, only to  
find himself here in the closest approximation to hell she could  
imagine. Behind her, she heard the imperceptible steps of two, maybe  
three, of the younger kids. She wasn't sure whether they   
were following her or following the trail.  
  
Max zigzagged, then grabbed one of the branches overhead without  
breaking her stride. She pulled herself up over their heads and  
watched them stop directly below her, regrouping. It was as though  
she'd been transported back in time as an observer. Maybe it was all  
a dream I had once, she thought. None of this is real.  
  
When they'd gone, she dropped down, turning to go deeper into the  
woods. Max stopped short as she found herself face to face with the  
man they were hunting. His posture was permanently bent, maybe from  
being in the cell for so long, or maybe from what they'd done to him,  
breaking his bones to see if they'd heal.  
  
"I don't want to die," he said. It wasn't just the intelligence in his  
eyes that frightened her. He was one of the monsters of her  
childhood.   
  
"Do you really think you can escape?" Max asked. The wrinkles in his  
forehead deepened as he seemed to consider this. She couldn't help  
him escape, couldn't unleash such madness on the unsuspecting world.  
She knew what the nomalies were, even if this ones was acting  
civilized now. But if he couldn't escape, she had to kill him. Or let  
the X-7s do it.  
  
That was Manticore in a nutshell: no matter how many choices you had,  
every single one of them was wrong.  
  
"You think you're better off than me," he said. "But one day it'll be  
you."  
  
"It already has," she said, flashing back to her shock as X7-452  
pulled the trigger. "Why now?"  
  
"They're cleaning house, Maxie."  
  
"How do you know my name?"  
  
He grinned. "I know lots of things."  
  
"What about the escape? The X-3s."  
  
He started to laugh, and it frustrated her. He turned it off an  
instant, his gaze once again ice-cold. "No one ever escapes," he  
said. "Get out your weapon."  
  
"What?" Max asked, placing her hand on the small knife she carried  
just as the others arrived and surrounded them silently. Their little  
faces were so serious. The X-2 stood calmly, raising his face to the  
sun. He closed his eyes. He had to know what was coming.  
  
The leader of the X-7s raised his hand in signal, and the kids moved  
forward. One of them shot a curious glance at Max. "This is your  
victory," Max said, bitterness bleeding into her voice. There were  
chills across her shoulders, down her spine. They could just as  
easily kill her out here as their intended target.  
  
She took a step out of the circle and the attack began. It was carried  
out in silence from the X-7s. The only sound was one long, thin  
scream from the nomaly, the one who looked so much like Zack. It  
sounded more like a cry of victory than one of pain. It ended with a  
wet crunch and Max flinched.  
  
And then there was one less of them. That was how the story always  
ended.   
  
_ _ _  
  
"I want to see it," Jondy declared.   
  
They'd shoved the plastic food storage containers to one side of the  
table and Logan had been scratching on a piece of paper, trying to  
set down the knowledge that had been lost in the destruction of his  
equipment, before he forgot it all. He'd started out telling Jondy as  
he went, then realized she wasn't listening to him. The focus of her  
eyes had dulled and she stared out the window as she drank   
one glass of wine after another. Logan wondered how much it took to  
get a genetically engineered soldier wasted. Looking at her now, he'd  
venture to guess it didn't take much.  
  
"I want to see it," she repeated.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your..." She wrinkled her nose at not finding the word she wanted.  
"Prototype servomotor whatever thing."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I just want to see it." Jondy turned to him. "I bet it wouldn't be  
too hard to fix."  
  
And those were the magic words, weren't they? Logan thought as Jondy  
approached him. He'd let her do anything if it meant the exoskeleton  
would work again. He'd been able to keep the thoughts relegated to  
the back of his mind for the moment, but he knew once the shock had  
time to wear off, the cloud of despair he'd managed to stay a step  
ahead of would catch him.  
  
He looked down at her hands, watching as she unfastened his trousers  
and began to ease them down, as though it was someone else she was  
touching. Logan lifted his eyes and studied her face as she  
contemplated his lower body.   
  
"You really can't feel it," she whispered, as though it amazed her. He  
glanced down and saw she was pinching some skin at the side of his  
thigh, digging her nails in deep enough to leave red welts.   
  
"If you're done playing --" he sneered, pushing her hands away and  
reaching for his pants, which were turned wrong-side out and bunched  
around his shoes.  
  
"Wait." Jondy leaned in closer, eyeing the construction of the plastic  
joints.   
  
"Well?" Logan demanded, his voice low. As long as he could cling to  
the anger, he'd be all right It was safer than the thought he'd been  
dangerously close to, about how her features were assembled with  
delicate perception.  
  
"Zane could fix it," Jondy said. "Zane can fix anything. Always  
could."  
  
"Maybe we should go get him, then," Logan suggested.  
  
Jondy's eyes brightened hopefully. "I thought -- You liar!" The hope  
only lasted a second before turning to rage. "You know where they  
are. But you wanted me to believe the information was only on your  
computer. That you didn't know."  
  
"It's dangerous."  
  
"I don't care about dangerous!" Jondy screamed at him. "I've been  
looking my whole life for them! I can handle it."  
  
"That's what Zack said," Logan pointed out.  
  
"Shut up," Jondy snapped. "Zack's not dead. Neither is Max. Just tell  
me where they are."  
  
Logan ground his teeth together, determinedly not saying a word.  
  
"Tell me," Jondy ordered, her eyes wild.  
  
"Or what?" Logan challenged. "You'll kill me? Wouldn't that defeat  
your purpose?"  
  
"You're infuriating," she snarled.  
  
"And you're reckless," Logan informed her calmly.  
  
"You sound just like *him.*"  
  
"Who? Lydecker? Zack? This is something you've heard before?" He  
pushed.  
  
"Pull up your pants," Jondy ordered. "We're leaving. Now." Logan  
didn't move. "That's an order!"  
  
Logan glared at her long enough that he felt he made his point that  
she couldn't order him about and couldn't tell him what to do. Then  
he bent down and she stalked off into the other room. "What are you  
doing?" he called to her.  
  
"None of your business," she said, coming back into the room with a  
small knapsack in her hands.  
  
"That looks familiar," Logan said, his eyes on the bag.  
  
"Your supplies are pitiful," Jondy informed him.  
  
"Well, I don't get out much," he said sarcastically. "We'll need  
sector passes."  
  
"I'll take care of it," Jondy said. "Let's go."  
  
In the elevator, she punched the button for the lobby. Logan pressed  
the button for the parking level a second later. "I have a car," he  
said.  
  
"Motorcycle's more mobile."  
  
"Too bad I can't ride one," Logan pointed out. The doors opened on the  
lobby and he pressed the button to close them again before anyone  
could join them. The parking garage under the building was quiet as  
they made their way to his car.  
  
Jondy snorted when she saw it. "You call this a car? It looks like a  
station wagon with its ass stuck in the air."  
  
"It's an SUV," Logan told her.  
  
"If you say so," Jondy snickered. He pulled the keys from the pocket  
of his jacket and she snatched them from him. "I'll drive."  
  
"Ever driven using hand controls before?"   
  
Her pause was only seconds long. "I'll figure it out."  
  
"You just can't quit fighting, can you?" he asked.  
  
"It's like sharks," she said. He raised his eyebrows, wondering if  
that remark was supposed to make sense. "I stop fighting, I'll die."  
But she put the keys back into his hand and went around to the  
passenger side.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Someone must have forgotten to assign her something to occupy the rest  
of the morning, Max thought. Or else physical training expected her  
to be at Brainwashing 101, and vice versa. In any case, she was glad.  
She was getting tired of pretending to be the good soldier.  
Especially when her instincts were beginning to take over and it  
wasn't all pretending any more.  
  
She found herself wandering around the complex, not sure what she was  
looking for until she found it. They'd left the door ajar. Bad habits  
die hard, she thought, remembering the last time she'd peered through  
a door left open and seen them cutting up Jack.  
  
Now they were working on the X-2, probably matching up the teeth marks  
with the X-7s' dental records so they'd know who to congratulate.  
They were focused on their work, so she leaned against the wall near  
the door, watching. The doctors worked together with precision. They  
were used to autopsying their creations, she thought. Anger flared up  
in her and she wished she could take them all out. That they could be  
released into the woods and hunted for sport.  
  
"Don't just stand there, X5-452." The voice from inside the autopsy  
room was Renfro's. Of course she'd be there to see this. "Come  
inside."  
  
Max walked into the room boldly, to cover the annoyance she felt at  
being caught listening at the door. A moment later, when someone  
moved to close the door behind her, she realized it had been a  
set-up, that they'd intended for her to join them all along.  
  
He looked so much like Zack, she thought. She flinched as one of the  
doctors turned on the bone saw. Its noisy whirring reminded her of  
other experiments, ones that had been conducted on her. The grinding  
grew louder as it connected. They'd done this to Zack, she thought,  
and it wasn't hard for her to imagine him lying on this table. They'd  
taken his heart and put it inside of her.  
  
The corpse's eyes opened. Max thought it was some belated reflex until  
they focused, directly on her. "Wait --" she said, but the word  
trailed. She knew the other doctors could see the reaction as clearly  
as she could. What's more, they were expecting it.  
  
Even as the saw ground through his skull, he was still alive. 


	11. Never to far

Prototype  
  
"It's hard to kill a Manticore prototype," Renfro murmured, as though  
she was proud of them for it.  
  
Max watched his hand spasm, opening and closing. Reaching out for  
help. There was desperation in his eyes as he looked at her. He was  
suffering. He could feel it. He was aware of everything they did to  
him.  
  
Just as he was aware of everything she didn't do to help him.  
  
Max was frozen where she stood, feeling sick with absolute horror. She  
couldn't say anything to make them stop, and she couldn't make  
herself look away.  
  
"That's enough." At Renfro's order, one of the doctors produced a  
syringe filled with clear liquid. A moment after it was injected into  
the nomaly's arm, his eyes turned cold and dead.  
  
He didn't even have a name.  
  
"Why?" Max turned on Renfro. Two of the doctors closed rank between  
the women, protecting their leader.  
  
"It was an experiment that had run its course."  
  
Did she think Max was questioning her finally putting him out of his  
misery, which she'd delayed too long for it to be considered mercy?  
That was the only thing Max couldn't question.  
  
"I wanted you to see it," Renfro continued. "To see what happens to  
experiments that fail."  
  
The message was loud and clear. If Max couldn't be fully retrained,  
brought back as one of their best and brightest soldiers, she would  
end up on this table again, praying for death as they vivisected  
her.  
  
"Now get back to your training."  
  
Max turned and walked out of the autopsy room. Once in the hallway,  
she broke into a run. She couldn't get away from them fast enough,  
sprinting down the halls until she reached the X-5 barracks. She  
wanted to cry, but she couldn't. The response of tears had been  
programmed out of her. Max kicked the first bed in the row, and it  
crashed into the second.  
  
"Did Kath's bed do something to you?" Brin asked. Max stopped and  
looked at her. She hadn't even seen the other soldier there. Brin got  
up from where she'd been resting and Max saw both her arms were  
splinted. She frowned at Brin's injuries, but said nothing as Brin  
moved to help her set the beds back where they belonged. "They made  
you watch," Brin said as they worked together. "Who was   
it?"  
  
"One of the nomalies," Max answered.  
  
"Mine was an X-7," Brin said. They stood on opposite sides of the bed  
closest to the door. "Did they make their point?"  
  
Max didn't reply. They had made their point, but it hadn't had the  
desired effect on her. She wanted them all dead. It hadn't motivated  
her to be a better soldier. The more they did, the more determined  
she was to escape. "What happened to you?"  
  
Brin shrugged off her question. "It'll heal fast enough."  
  
"We're not animals, we're not things they can play with," Max said.  
"You don't want to be here any more than I do."  
  
"This is the only life there is for us, Max."   
  
"I don't --"  
  
Brin met her eyes sharply. "Don't tell me what you're planning. I'm  
obliged to report it." Max frowned, and they stood there for several  
more seconds, each watching the other. "We have class in five  
minutes." She turned away. Max couldn't still couldn't believe it.  
Even standing there with both arms broken, Brin was loyal to the  
enemy.  
  
But Max hadn't fought. She hadn't protested. Hell, she'd killed an  
intruder to impress them during the drill the previous evening. How  
could she think herself any different from Brin? They'd accomplished  
it in a different way, but they had a hold on her all the same. She  
had to escape before they owned her completely.  
  
_ _ _  
  
"Where does Zane live?" Jondy asked, breaking the silence in the car.  
They'd passed out of the city without a hint of trouble, leaving them  
free to travel the open road. They hadn't passed another car for  
miles. Living in a police state had done wonders for solving traffic  
problems.  
  
"In a small town just across the Oregon border," Logan replied.  
Sensing her next question, he continued, "He's a mechanic. Fixes  
everything from cars to toasters."  
  
"Sounds like him," she said. "Do you know where all of them are?"  
  
"Jondy --"  
  
"We're going to need their help if we're going to take down  
Manticore."  
  
"Who said anything about taking down Manticore?" Logan pointed out.  
"Our priority has to be putting May 22 and their new EMP out of  
business."  
  
"What's so great about this world that you want to save it?" Jondy  
asked.  
  
"It's the only one we've got."  
  
"Maybe it'd be better if projects like Manticore weren't able to  
exist," she mused.   
  
"You were nine when the Pulse hit. How much do you remember about the  
chaos that followed? About the panic people were in? Millions of  
people died in riots and other violence. Those that didn't, starved  
to death," Logan said.  
  
"You didn't. I didn't. Lots of other people didn't. The strong made it  
through."  
  
"You can't be pro-evolution and anti-technology," he told her. "It's  
not fair to want to wipe the slate clean and start over."  
  
"Who said anything about fair?" Jondy asked. "Nothing in this stupid  
life is fair."  
  
"Don't you think I know that?"  
  
"Oh, that's right, I forgot." Her tone grew strident and sarcastic.  
"You know better than anyone what unfair is. No one else can possibly  
have suffered more than you. No wonder you don't care about getting  
Max back. Not only can you not imagine what they must be putting her  
through, you don't care about anyone but yourself."   
  
Logan looked at her and she shot back a stubborn, unapologetic look.  
He bit his tongue on a remark about how having a bad childhood was  
supposed to excuse everything. No need to sink to her level. He  
returned his gaze to the road in front of them, and he could see her  
squirm. "What exactly is it you want?" he asked her.  
  
"All I want is my family back," she said softly.  
  
"Me too," he agreed, in a voice equally soft. He glanced at her and  
she was looking out the window.  
  
_ _ _  
  
After having the rules of war battered into her head for a few hours  
in Manticore's version of elementary school -- "And I was hoping for  
a refresher course in algebra," Max sighed -- she had to go out and  
patrol the grounds.   
  
The task seemed unnecessary to her. The compound had security cameras,  
electrified razor-wire fences and watchtowers. Then again, she'd been  
able to break in, hadn't she? Max thought it was more likely, though,  
that it was another way of testing her in the face of temptation. Put  
her outside where she could smell the fresh air and knew escape was  
only a bounce up over the fence and a jog through dense forest away.  
  
She wondered again at the logic of trying to escape. The fence and the  
run wasn't the obstacle. The problem was, she didn't just want to  
save herself. She wanted to stage another large-scale escape like the  
one in '09. She wanted to set all of them free and then make sure the  
project couldn't be rebuilt. Renfro's remark about a series X-8  
troubled her. That meant Victor was right, blowing up the lab hadn't  
been enough. Zack's death and her recapture had been worthless in the  
scheme of things.  
  
On days like this, it all seemed hopeless. The other soldiers didn't  
want to be free. And maybe Max was right, that never having known  
freedom, it wasn't really their choice to make. But she couldn't help  
thinking back on her life after the escape. How frightened she'd  
been, and how she knew nothing of the way the world worked. She  
thought about the foster homes she'd been put into, and what she   
knew of the others who'd escaped, too. Like Zack being arrested for  
armed robbery when he was eleven. Would it really be fair for her to  
choose that for her brothers and sisters?  
  
They had to choose for themselves. So her real job was to open the  
door for them. So that they could choose.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Logan pulled to a stop outside the small, rundown repair shop. It was  
on the outskirts of a miniscule town that was just the perfect sort  
of place to get lost in. The man who stepped outside was unmistakably  
Zane: tall, with the wiry grace all the Manticore kids had.  
  
Jondy shoved open her door and jumped out of the car. Zane stopped  
dead in his tracks as soon as he saw her. Logan lingered in the car,  
watching them. A grin broke across Zane's face and he opened his  
arms. Jondy reached him in two or three giant steps and he wrapped  
his arms around her.  
  
"It's been too long, little sister," Zane murmured, hugging her tight.  
Jondy didn't say anything, just squeezed back as hard as she could.  
She'd been isolated for such a long time.  
  
She reached up and tugged at a lock of his hair as he released her  
reluctantly. "Who'd have guessed it would be so curly?"  
  
"Who'd have guessed you'd be such a shrimp?" He teased back. "Didn't  
you grow at all?" His expression grew serious as he looked toward the  
car. "Who's your friend?"  
  
Jondy looked over her shoulder and saw Logan approaching them. "This  
is Logan. He --"  
  
"Helped get Max killed," Zane finished.  
  
Jondy touched Zane's arm. "Max isn't dead," she said. Zane continued  
to regard Logan suspiciously. "He knows where the others are. He can  
help us."  
  
"We don't need anyone's help," Zane declared, turning his back on  
Logan and heading back into the repair shop.  
  
Jondy hung back. "He's not good with strangers," she explained.  
  
"I noticed," Logan replied.  
  
Jondy nodded, wondering why she was worried that Zane had hurt Logan's  
feelings when she'd worked to hurt them herself on many occasions.  
Did he get that same look when she verbally wounded him? Not wanting  
to dwell on it, she followed Zane into the shop.  
  
It was like a cluttered, disorganized museum of household technology.  
Shelves went up the ceiling, littered with parts and tools, not to  
mention the broken appliances in shades like avocado and harvest gold  
scattered about like so many knickknacks. "How'd you end up here?"  
Jondy asked.  
  
Zane barely glanced up from the circuit board he was playing with on  
the counter, much more sophisticated technology than the rest of the  
shop represented. "I was in LA till a few months ago. Had to run."  
Jondy nodded at his words; that was when they'd recaptured Zack and  
he'd compromised all their positions. That might have been the end of  
line for all the escapees if it hadn't been for Zack's affiliation  
with Eyes Only. "This place was vacant, so I moved in. Townspeople  
were so desperate for someone who could fix things, they   
chose not to ask a lot of questions. Same story, different day." Zane  
looked at her. "Where've you been keeping yourself?"  
  
"San Francisco, till lately," Jondy answered.  
  
"You miss it?"   
  
Jondy shook her head. "You miss LA?"  
  
"It was home," Zane shrugged. Jondy could see straight through him,  
trying to pretend like it didn't hurt, that it didn't matter. In that  
way, being a soldier had been good training. "What makes you think  
Max isn't dead?"  
  
"Got some surveillance video."  
  
"That can be faked," Zane pointed out.  
  
"She was seen in Seattle a couple days ago."  
  
Zane shook his head, and pushed aside the circuit board, apparently  
ready for a conversation. "Then it's no good," he said.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"You didn't hear? Somebody plugged Lydecker in Seattle a couple days  
ago. Said it was suicide, but it was obviously a military hit," Zane  
said, and watched surprise flicker through Jondy's eyes. "You should  
check the contact number more often. Anyway, if Max was in Seattle,  
it was her. And if she took out Lydecker, it means they've got her,  
just like they've got Brin." For the first time since they'd all gone  
inside, Zane looked at Logan. "You can't trust him."  
  
"I'm a pretty good judge of character," Jondy said.  
  
"I'm sure that's what Max thought, too," Zane replied. He picked up a  
blender from the counter and turned it over, going for its motor.  
  
"I told you he couldn't help us," Logan said to Jondy.  
  
"I never said I couldn't," Zane said, without looking up. "I said I  
wouldn't."  
  
"Not up to the challenge?" Logan pressed.  
  
"Not interested," Zane shot back.  
  
Sometimes, Logan really hated the kids from Manticore. They were  
stubborn, even more stubborn than he was, and he found that  
incredibly irritating. He turned back toward the door, ready to go,  
having accomplished nothing. "Jondy?"  
  
She looked at him, then back at Zane, who was watching with interest.  
"I'm not ready to go," she declared.  
  
"Now or never," said Logan.  
  
Those ocean-colored eyes narrowed with a glare that seemed powerful  
enough to kill. "Then I guess it's never."  
  
Logan nodded and gave his wheels a rough push and left.  
  
"He's a bully," Zane said.  
  
"You're any better?" Jondy inquired lightly. "He needs our help."  
  
"He needs somebody's help," Zane said cruelly. "If not for him, Max  
would still be alive."  
  
"But Max is alive," Jondy pointed out.  
  
"Back at Manticore? She might as well be dead," Zane said, trying to  
end the subject. "It's good to see you again, Jondy. You can crash in  
the back if you want."  
  
"I didn't come here to crash."  
  
"Figures you'd only visit because you want something," Zane said, and  
his tone was childish. "Just like Zack."  
  
"Grow up," Jondy snapped. "Sorry. I would have dropped by if I'd had  
any idea where the hell you were. It's not like we had the family  
reunion without you. It's how Zack wanted it, and you didn't cross  
him for the same reason I didn't. But now they've got him. And Max.  
And the only way we're going to see them again is if we work  
together. All of us."  
  
"You know where the others are." Zane tried so hard to pretend the  
thought didn't excite him. He must have spent a lot of time around  
normal people in LA, Jondy thought. He always had been one of the  
social ones.  
  
"Logan does."  
  
"He's still sitting out there in his car," Zane remarked.  
  
"I know." She'd been listening to hear the engine start and pull away,  
too, and it hadn't.  
  
"We don't need him. He's a civilian, which makes him a liability."  
Zane had put down his tools, which meant he was more interested than  
he liked to let on.  
  
"Max trusted him."  
  
"And look where it got her."  
  
"Stop trying to say Max is stupid!" Jondy's voice rose. "It could have  
happened to any one of us. They could have gotten Krit and Syl just  
as easily. They already got Brin. And Tinga."  
  
"They got Tinga, too?" Zane flinched.  
  
Jondy swallowed hard. "She's dead, Zane. So is Ben."  
  
"That doesn't leave many of us." He was honestly considering giving  
in. Helping them out.  
  
"There's more," Jondy said.  
  
He snickered. "Isn't there always."  
  
"Terrorists are planning another pulse."  
  
Zane yawned exaggeratedly.  
  
"Logan says their leader is one of us," Jondy continued.  
  
"'Logan says...'" Zane mimicked. Jondy smacked him, a little harder  
than she needed to, and he straightened up. "You trying to pick a  
fight with me?" His irises were black, which made his eyes appear to  
be solid, threateningly dark.  
  
"Would it do any good?" Jondy sighed.   
  
"Show me what you got," Zane invited. Jondy only had to wait a few  
seconds before he got tired of standing there and threw the first  
punch. She countered with her foot, smacking his fist hard against  
the counter. She tried to pin it there, but he jerked away, socking  
her square on the jaw. She tasted blood in her mouth. She whirled and  
hit him hard in the stomach. He grabbed her ponytail, and that made  
her decide she'd had it, so she kicked him in the groin.  
  
"What'd you do that for?" Zane moaned.  
  
Jondy pulled her hair down and just as quickly re-wound the rubber  
band around it. "That hurt," she informed him, rubbing her scalp.  
Then she offered him a hand up from where he'd found a comfortable  
place on the floor. "We good?"  
  
"You fight dirty," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her down  
onto the floor with him. "I like that."  
  
He was staring at her, so she shoved him. "Don't look at me like  
that."  
  
"I wasn't."  
  
"Mmm-hmm," Jondy murmured, then turned serious. "I need your help,  
Zane."  
  
"I'll put it on the contact number."  
  
"You're a real pal," she said sarcastically, getting to her feet.  
  
"You're really leaving with that guy?" Zane hadn't moved from his spot  
on the floor.  
  
Jondy bit her lip, but only for a second. She was through begging Zane  
to come with them, and help them. He'd refused enough times. "Yeah,"  
she said, jamming her hands into the pockets of her pants. Much as  
she wanted to look back as she walked out of the repair shop, she  
didn't.  
  
Logan started the car as soon as he saw her. She threw herself into  
the passenger seat and slammed the door. "He's not coming," Logan  
guessed.  
  
"Bad timing. He had plans to attend the policeman's ball," Jondy  
replied sharply.  
  
"You're going to have a bruise," Logan said, lightly touching her jaw  
where Zane had punched her. Her stomach curled up and she moved her  
head away from his fingers. She didn't want him touching her. It felt  
good.  
  
"If I were Zack, he would have done it," Jondy said, staring out the  
window at the trees along the side of the road.   
  
"It's okay," Logan told her, the words bland and meaningless.  
  
"We can't do this without help," Jondy said.  
  
"There are others."  
  
"What makes you think they'll listen?" Jondy demanded. His calm  
answers made her angry. He seemed to get the message, because he  
didn't say anything else.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Rounding the corner, Max saw movement on the roof. Maybe I ought to be  
checking the fence for holes, she thought. Or a revolving door. She  
got her rifle ready, focusing her gaze. Not intruders after all.  
  
"You forgot to shut the door to the clubhouse, kids," she remarked,  
taking the X-7s by surprise. She'd scaled the building silently.  
"What are you doing up here?"  
  
They didn't say anything, just met her with a wall of silence. Max  
watched them look at each other, and she sensed there were thoughts  
flowing back and forth. Which was impossible, a bunch of science  
fiction nonsense, but then again, so was this whole project.   
  
Moments ticked by. "Thirty seconds and the spotlight from the  
watchtower's going to be on us," Max pointed out.  
  
"You're the one who'd be in trouble," their leader pointed out.  
  
"So you _can_ talk," Max snarked. "Twenty seconds, by the way."  
  
The leader didn't look away as he raised one hand to signal.   
  
"Go down the drainpipe and they'll see you," Max said instantly. It  
stopped the already-mobilized X-7s in their tracks. "Get down!" They  
all dropped, on her order. She had to pull the stubborn leader down  
with her. The building had a very thin ledge, enough to disguise them  
from the spotlight as it washed over them.  
  
"You need to wait until 0300," Max said. "That's right before the  
shift change, when they start getting tired." Once again in darkness,  
the soldiers began to get up. "But you need a better plan than this."  
She reached over to the thin, invisible wire they'd strung between  
the rooftops and gave it a twang.  
  
"We're preparing for a mission," one of the smaller ones said.  
  
Max raised an eyebrow. "Since when do soldiers train past midnight,  
out of uniform?" She looked down at all the bare toes, the legs  
exposed underneath their nightgowns.  
  
"How'd you do it?" the leader asked.  
  
Max hesitated. It was the same question Renfro had asked. Maybe this  
was all a setup, so see if she'd trust the X-7s, try to corrupt them  
with tales of her escape. "They let us do it," she said, to see what  
their reaction would be.  
  
"What's it like out there?" their leader asked seriously.  
  
"What is this, storytime?" Max demanded. "Get to bed."  
  
None of them moved.   
  
After a second, Max pulled out her knife and sliced through the wire.  
It slid down the side of the building to the ground. Wasn't this  
exactly what she'd been waiting for? "Okay," she said.   
  
_ _ _  
  
"Stay here. I'll be back as soon as I can," Logan instructed when he  
dropped Jondy off at his apartment building. She nodded and watched  
the car pull away. Once it had rounded the corner, she started off in  
the opposite direction.  
  
There was a pay phone a block or so away. Jondy lifted the receiver  
and listened for the weak dial tone, then started punching in  
numbers.  
  
"Leave your name and the time you called." Jondy didn't say anything.  
There would be a record of the messages being accessed, but no one  
would know by who or from where. For the moment she wanted to remain  
anonymous. She hadn't called the contact number since the information  
went out that Zack had been captured and Max was dead. The contact  
number had been Zack's thing; she hadn't seen any reason to keep up  
the charade. But Zane had mentioned it, which meant the others   
were using it still.  
  
She pressed the pound key. It was a simple voice-mail system. She'd  
never tried to hack it before, and now she wondered why. Instead of  
keying in her number, she put in Zack's. "Password?" it inquired.  
  
Jondy's heart speeded up a little. What the hell would Zack use for a  
password? It would be just like him to set it to lock if the wrong  
password was entered. Feeling her time was running out, she punched  
in the date of the escape.  
  
"Access granted," the computerized voice said. "You have...three...new  
messages."  
  
Jondy held her breath. "This is Zane. Jondy's looking for volunteers.  
Leave a message." He had put it on the line, like he'd said he would.  
He was an immature jerk, and he didn't want to help, but she could  
trust him. "Jondy, contact Krit and Syl." Krit had left the message.  
"I'll help. This is Jace, by the way."  
  
*Jace?* Jondy thought. Jace hadn't escaped with them. Just how easy  
was it to escape from Manticore these days? She wondered. The message  
system went through its "end of mailbox" routine while she stood  
there with the phone in her hand. Her elation had quickly turned to  
panic. That was only three. Could she really break into Manticore,  
rescue Max and shut the place down with only three of her   
siblings for backup?  
  
Six months ago, four had gone in and only two had come back.  
  
It was something to think about. 


	12. Going through the motions

Around   
  
"Haven't seen you around much lately," Victor commented as Max slipped  
into the medical lab a few moments before the others.  
  
"Yeah, this place has gone straight to hell," Max remarked, but then  
she raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "Things are changing, aren't  
they?"  
  
Victor nodded, a brief jerk of his head.  
  
"Why?"  
  
He shrugged. "New director's got her own ways of doing things."  
  
Max wasn't content with that answer. "There's more to it than that,"  
she said, watching Victor closely. He was nervous. Why would he be  
nervous? "What do you know?" she demanded, moving in closer to him,  
putting one hand on his arm.  
  
The door opened. Victor's eyes darted to see who had come in, but Max  
didn't care. "Tell me."  
  
"Max," said Victor.  
  
"What are you doing?" Eva asked. She hung a couple steps back, near  
the door. Ready to run, Max thought. But would she be running for  
help, or would she just go back out the way she'd come and leave Max  
to do what she needed to do.  
  
"Tell me what you know," Max ordered again.  
  
"Be on your guard." Victor spat the words at her.  
  
Max gave him a doubtful look. "That's all?" She shoved the lab tech  
lightly as she let him go. The door opened and the other X-5s filed  
in, giving Max interested looks, but she just turned her back on them  
all and walked out. She was halfway down the hall before she realized  
she'd forgotten her meds. Max didn't care enough to go back.  
  
"What's going on with you and Victor?" Eva whispered to Max in the  
gym.  
  
"Nothing," Max lied.   
  
Brin walked over to them. "You're wanted back in the med lab," she  
said to Max. Her demeanor was businesslike, as usual.  
  
"Why?" Max asked.  
  
Brin shook her head. It wasn't her job to ask questions, or to answer  
them. She just delivered orders, if she was requested to do so.  
  
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Eva whispered.  
  
"Gee, me too," Max said. Eva frowned at her sarcasm. Not a lot of  
smart mouths at Manticore. But she didn't say anything else, turning  
stiffly and walking out of the gym, aware that all eyes were on her.  
She glanced to one side and saw one of the X-7s miss a beat in their  
tumbling routine, watching her.  
  
It's nice to be a star, Max thought bitterly. She threw open the door  
to the med lab. "Hey again," she said to Victor.  
  
"You'd better start behaving yourself," Victor said.  
  
Max put her hands on her hips. "You threatening me?" Her tone was  
teasing, but her intent was not. Victor looked away, and that was  
unacceptable. "I could snap your neck in a second, you understand  
me?"  
  
"You'd enjoy it, too," Victor muttered.  
  
Max's eyes widened. Is that how they saw her? Even people like Victor,  
who knew her? But there was no denying she'd killed the man during  
the drill, and it had sent a sick thrill through her. "Then maybe you  
can try to pull the stick out of your ass and tell me what's going  
on."  
  
Victor glared. It was as though he'd had a personality transplant  
overnight. "The number you gave me for Jace was bogus."  
  
"It's been a whole damn year," Max said.   
  
"I don't think you ever knew. You just said you did to make me  
cooperate."  
  
"Have it your way," Max said. Her heart was pounding. She couldn't  
really afford to lose any friends right now, especially ones who had  
access and information. Not if she was ever going to get to escape.  
She was playing this all wrong. The years she'd spent outside had  
taught her how to make people want to help her; it was called  
survival. Six months in Manticore had succeeded in eradicating that,   
or eroding it, anyway. Manticore was all brute force and strength; no  
finesse required.  
  
Max walked out of the med lab again, and she could feel the heat from  
the bridge burning behind her.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Logan had returned from the black market with his arms filled with  
things. "There's more in the car," he nodded to Jondy.  
  
She stood there. "What am I, the help?" she asked after several  
seconds passed.  
  
"I had to let the help go," Logan said, as though he was joking, but  
there was a plane of seriousness in his voice that made it impossible  
for Jondy to tell. He shot her a glance and she saw a twinkle of  
mischief in his eye. "I got you a present."  
  
"Oh, boy," Jondy said with false enthusiasm. But it worked. She picked  
up the car keys from where Logan had dropped them and went down to  
the parking garage to retrieve the rest of his purchases.  
  
She went instantly on alert once the door swung closed behind her. The  
garage was perfectly still, the air cool with a note of humidity. She  
could hear a big fan or generator humming in one corner, supplying  
the building with electricity or ventilation. The feeling that  
something was wrong clung to her as she went to the Aztek and lifted  
the hatchback.  
  
Someone was watching her. Jondy glanced this way and that, fussing  
with the stuff in the back of the car without lifting any of it. She  
wanted to be available for a fight, because she had the feeling one  
was going to ensue. She held her breath as seconds ticked past.  
  
Then she saw it. A shadow, scuttling as fast as a rat. But bigger,  
although rats were known to come in the human-sized variety. It was a  
man. She hear him breathing now, feel the temperature change as he  
got closer. He was hiding behind the cement pillar two parking spaces  
over.  
  
Jondy found Logan's present for her. It was a handgun, lying on a bed  
of bullets. Silently, she slid the clip in and tucked it into the  
waist of her pants for easy access. "What are you waiting for?" she  
called to her new friend, her voice echoing off the unforgiving  
cement walls.  
  
There was no reply. The man didn't move. Did he really think she was  
going to let it go? Jondy slammed the Aztek's trunk and when she  
turned, he was standing there. That he towered over her was the first  
thing she noticed. The second was his eyes, lit with madness.   
  
"What do you want?" she asked. He just stood there. "What, do you  
think you're menacing or something?"  
  
He picked her up and threw her across the garage before she realized  
what was happening. She tucked and rolled, and managed not to crash  
head-first into cement as he'd intended for her to do. Instead, she  
smacked hard into a black Jeep with light armor. Set off the car  
alarm.  
  
No ordinary guy, she thought, jumping up and trading punches with him.  
He was fast, but she was faster, getting in a couple of good jabs.  
She'd heard they were out there, other prototypes. The South Africans  
had some. Other countries also popped up in the rumors: France,  
Ireland, India.  
  
His fist connected with the spot where Zane had hit her the day  
before. "Now you're pissing me off," Jondy declared as pain shot  
through her. She pulled the gun and pointed it at him. He froze. "So  
you're not bulletproof. Good to know," she continued conversationally  
. "Now who are you and what are you doing here? Unless --" she blew a  
loose strand of hair out of her eyes, "--the better question is, what  
are you?"  
  
A smile blossomed slowly across his face. "I am what you are."  
  
"Oh, that's good," Jondy said. "I know a riddle, too: tell me why I  
haven't killed your ass yet."  
  
He moved a fraction of an inch, and she fired. The bullet grazed his  
cheek, opening a shallow wound that filled with blood, just as she'd  
intended it to. He moved again, and she fired, but he was faster than  
the bullet, which knocked a large hole into the door of a minicar.  
Then Jondy didn't have to ask who he was, because she knew.  
  
"You're not going to stop me," he said, his voice low and silky as he  
leaned over her. "No one can."  
  
"I see ego was only one of the flaws of the X-3 series," Jondy  
replied. He didn't smile. Apparently, they didn't have a sense of  
humor, either. Too bad.  
  
His fingers flicked across her shoulders on the way to the back of her  
neck. "Don't mess with the hair," she snarled, driving the gun into  
his ribs. Speed wouldn't matter at close range.  
  
"Why are you fighting me, little sister?" he asked.  
  
The nickname turned her stomach. The same government experiment might  
have created them both, but he was not her brother. "Give me one  
reason." She pushed the gun a little deeper into his chest.  
  
"You can't do it," he said.  
  
"Not the best words to say to someone holding a gun," Jondy said.  
"I've never been able to resist a challenge."  
  
"I notice you're not pulling the trigger," he pointed out.  
  
"You haven't told me what I want to know," she said.   
  
"Killing me won't stop it. The wheels have already been set into  
motion," he said.  
  
"You're lying," Jondy noted.  
  
"Am I?" he challenged.  
  
He wouldn't be here stalking Logan if his plans weren't a done deal,  
if there wasn't something remaining that could be affected by  
interference. "When and where," she demanded.  
  
"I told you," he said, his lips turning up in a smile. "It's already  
begun."  
  
Shooting him in the chest would slow him down, but it wouldn't finish  
him. They all had astounding healing abilities. It took massive  
trauma to kill a Manticore prototype, and the quickest way to  
accomplish that was a bullet through the brain. Jondy started to  
raise the gun, but as soon as she broke the connection   
with the X-3s body, he shoved her, grabbed the gun barrel-first and  
sprang away.  
  
Jondy dove for cover, but she was too slow. The gun fired. She might  
have chuckled, if it hadn't hurt so much. They said you never heard  
the shot that hit you. Now she knew they were wrong.  
  
_ _ _  
  
"What happened?" Eva asked Max when she returned to the gym.  
  
"I forgot to take my meds," she said. Eva nodded, not believing her.  
Max didn't care. She'd had it. She threw herself into one of the  
gymnastics practice routines. After a moment, Eva moved away and  
resumed her own training.   
  
It was a free session; they had use of the gym to train, but no one  
was watching them. Increasingly, there was no one to supervise them.  
Maybe they were supposed to police each other, Max thought, pausing  
to watch the X-7s. They were all so damn serious, their little faces  
done up in matching frowns.  
  
"You're landing too hard," Max said to the one she'd been watching. He  
looked up at her with Ben's face. "It's costing you the seconds it  
takes you to recover. Try to be lighter."  
  
He just stared at her. The X-7s didn't talk much.  
  
"You're welcome," Max snapped with a roll of her eyes, then did the  
move he'd been doing, to show him how to land and come out of it with  
a bounce.  
  
Except she didn't bounce. She wobbled, and before she could catch her  
balance, she was shaking so badly she hit the floor. They didn't use  
mats to train on. The floor was just as hard and cold as the one in  
the bathroom of her apartment, where she used to sit mornings until  
her tryptophan kicked in.  
  
This attack was as severe as it was swift. As much as she wanted to  
pick herself up, she couldn't make her arms or legs move. They just  
twitched as she spasmed on the floor, vaguely aware the gym had gone  
silent and the others had gathered around her.  
  
"I thought they fixed that defect." It was one of the typically  
superior X-7s, remarking to one of the others. But why would they say  
it aloud? Max wondered. But maybe they hadn't. Maybe she was hearing  
things. Maybe it never really happened at all.  
  
Strong arms grabbed her and dragged her across the floor. At first she  
thought it was one of her brothers or sisters coming to her aid. But  
then she heard Eva's scream tearing through the silent gym. "No!"  
  
The doors banged closed behind them. Max struggled, but it was easier  
to give in, to go limp and let the impulses in her screwed up brain  
do what they wished. She heard the pounding beat of high heels, which  
could only be Renfro joining the party.  
  
The light overhead was bright and Max could smell the metal of the  
operating theater. She'd been here too often as a child. Or maybe she  
was in the autopsy room, being dissected alive like Jack, like the  
X-2 they'd dragged in from the woods. They'd won, she realized.  
They'd finally won, and losing meant her death.  
  
Then everything went mercifully black.  
  
_ _ _  
  
"What took you so long?" Logan asked, without looking up when he heard  
the door open. He was busy trying to make his exoskeleton work again  
with the spare parts he'd picked up on the black market. The only  
thing he wouldn't be able to replace easily was the chip stolen from  
a robot arm in a nuclear reactor, but he was pretty sure if he asked  
Jondy nicely enough, she'd help him snag another one.  
  
There was no reply, so Logan raised his eyes from his work. "You're  
bleeding," he frowned at Jondy, who was just standing in the  
doorway.  
  
"You noticed," she said, trying to smile. Then she slowly sank to the  
floor with a small grunt of pain.  
  
Logan was at her side in seconds. "What happened?" Damn the  
wheelchair. He couldn't reach her or try to help her up without  
falling out of it.  
  
"Blood's a bitch to get out of leather," Jondy raised her head. This  
time she managed to smile. "Saw your friend in the parking garage."  
There were flecks of blood on her lips, and one of her eyes didn't  
seem to be focused all the way. "Thanks for the present, by the way,"  
she said. "He shot me with it."  
  
"No...Jondy...hold on. I'm going to get help," Logan said.   
  
He was freaking out. Worried about her. "Hey," Jondy said, grabbing  
his hand before he could get away. "I'm okay."  
  
"Yeah, you look okay," Logan told her, his eyes lit with fear. He'd  
lost Max exactly this way. He couldn't just let it happen again.  
  
"He missed everything important," Jondy said.  
  
"There's so much blood." Logan's voice broke. Jondy shivered at the  
tone of it. He shouldn't cry, not over her.  
  
"Give me a hand," she requested, not quite able to pull herself up  
from the floor. Logan reached down half-heartedly. Jondy took his  
hands, hard, and felt him strain to pull her up. She found her feet  
unsteady and pressed her back against the wall, curiously picking up  
the edge of her shirt to examine her wound. When she probed it with  
her finger, Logan made a choking sound.  
  
"I could use a needle and some thread," Jondy said. Logan just stared  
at her, swallowing hard like he was going to be sick. "Don't tell me  
you don't have any medical supplies."  
  
"Yeah. In the, uh, the bathroom," Logan said.  
  
"Do you mind?" Jondy asked. "I'm trying really hard not to fall down  
here."  
  
Logan gave her an odd look and headed for the bathroom. You'd think  
he'd be used to it, Jondy thought, steeling herself and focusing on  
the window as she used her finger to examine the wound. "God," Logan  
said. She hadn't heard him return.  
  
"I guess I should have washed my hands first," she allowed, checking  
out the medical supplies in his hands. "That all you got?" She  
reached for the needle.  
  
"Let me," Logan said.  
  
"You look like you're gonna pass out," Jondy told him.  
  
"So do you," Logan countered.  
  
Yeah, well, she felt like she was going to pass out. A look down at  
the floor where a large amount of her blood was collecting was a good  
indication of why. The wound was healing, but she needed to stop the  
bleeding.  
  
"Lie down on the couch. Now," Logan ordered.  
  
"I thought you'd never ask," Jondy teased, but did as he said. Amongst  
the medical supplies he'd gathered was a bottle of alcohol. "Can I  
have some of that?"  
  
"I think you'd rather have this," Logan said. He pushed up her sleeve  
and injected her with something.  
  
"Mmm, painkillers," Jondy murmured.   
  
"Nice?" Logan inquired grimly.  
  
"Takes the edge off." Jondy let her eyes close for a second, then  
forced them open. "I can do this, you know. I'm a trained soldier."  
  
"And I'm sure it's a point of pride that you can perform surgery on  
yourself," Logan said. That overly sharp tone to his voice that was  
supposed to make him sound like he didn't care only betrayed how much  
he did.   
  
"Stitches aren't surgery," Jondy pointed out. "We don't have time for  
this." He couldn't get the thread through the eye of the needle. She  
had superior hand-eye coordination and managed it on the first try,  
then put it back between his fingers. She met his eyes, and nodded,  
giving him permission to go ahead.  
  
She felt the first sting of the needle. Logan made the stitches  
quickly and neatly. It was over in moments. "Thanks," Jondy said, not  
moving.  
  
"Don't mention it," Logan said. "Who did this to you?"  
  
"The X-3 terrorist guy," Jondy said. "He said the plan was already in  
motion."  
  
"What?"   
  
"I think he was bluffing," she added, and pulled herself into a  
sitting position. The room swam for a second, but she was getting her  
strength back already. "We have to get Max out of there."  
  
"We have to stop them," Logan said.  
  
"All we can do now is minimize the damage," Jondy replied. Logan  
reached for the phone. "There's no time to reach the others. Even  
Krit and Syl couldn't get here that fast."  
  
"That's not who I'm calling," Logan told her as he dialed.  
  
Jondy frowned. "What, you're gonna send the police to go pick him up?  
Are you insane?"  
  
"This will at least give them time to prepare," he said. "Warn people.  
Make arrangements."  
  
"What about Max?" Jondy was stunned. "If we don't get her, she'll  
die."  
  
"And if we go save her, thousands will die and millions more will  
suffer."  
  
"But...it's Max," Jondy said. Her eyes were burning and she could feel  
her lips trembling. Like she was going to cry. And she didn't cry.  
  
"I know," Logan said, and sighed, holding the phone in his hands. "But  
she's just one person."  
  
"I thought you loved her." Jondy felt a tear drip down her cheek and  
prayed he wouldn't see it.   
  
"I do."  
  
"Then how can you just give up on her like this?" Jondy demanded. She  
got up, feeling twinges where she'd been shot, but she'd survive.  
  
"Jondy --"  
  
"Fine," she said, very quietly. She was furious, and if she lashed out  
at him like she wanted to, she might kill him. "Stay here. Save your  
little world. But I have to help my sister." She waited for him to  
protest, to argue with her, but he didn't say anything. Just sat  
there with the damned phone in his hands, the hands that had only  
minutes ago been so gently working to heal her wounds. Jondy   
shook her head bitterly and walked out of his apartment.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Max came around slowly. Her mouth was dry, her tongue like sandpaper.  
That was typical. But her head hurt. She shook it, trying to knock  
the pain out of whack, but she couldn't.  
  
Her hands were strapped. It smelled like damp, which meant she was in  
the basement. There was cement beneath her cheek. For a second, she  
thought she was in the hole, but then she saw there was light. A  
blink brought the small, barred window into focus, and she knew where  
she was.  
  
She was in the basement, behind a door four inches thick, made of  
solid steel. Max let her head drop back against the cement. She was  
X5-452.   
  
And now, she was one of the nomalies.  



	13. Last but not least

The great escape to the brave new world  
  
  
In his anger, Logan shoved the exoskeleton, hard, and then looked for  
something he could good and truly break. A whirring sound from behind  
him was the salvation of a very ugly, moderately valuable vase. Logan  
turned his head and saw the exoskeleton twitching on the floor.  
  
Sometimes all electronics needed was a good slap to get them working.  
Funny how it all worked out sometimes.  
  
_ _ _  
  
"You have to fight them, Max."  
  
"I can't," she protested. She didn't want to open her eyes, because  
she was having a conversation with Zack, and Zack was dead. If she  
opened her eyes, she'd know he wasn't there and that she'd cracked.  
  
"Is this really the life you wanted?" he demanded.  
  
"Shut up!" Max wailed, covering her head with both hands, trying to  
get away from the sound of his voice. But when she did that, she  
could just hear her heart beating harder in her ears. His heart,  
beating in her chest. Driving her insane.  
  
But then she felt him, too. His hands on her hands, pushing them away.  
Smoothing back her ratty, tangled hair. Cool against her fevered  
skin. Taking a deep breath, Max looked.  
  
He was there. He was real.  
  
"But you're dead," she protested.  
  
"No more than you are," he assured her. Max stared at him. It looked  
like Zack. His hair was a little longer, but his eyes were the same,  
the lines around his mouth that on anyone else would be called "smile  
lines" except Zack rarely smiled.  
  
"I'm dreaming this." She'd had weird dreams before. Like the one with  
Logan up and dancing with her, the one she'd thought they'd shared.  
Of course they hadn't, no one could share dreams, not even through  
the flow of blood. Max looked at Zack again, her eyes widening. Was  
Zack dreaming this past death and transmitting it to her through her  
heart?  
  
Now that was just whack, Max told herself.  
  
"Tell me I'm not dreaming this," she said to Zack.  
  
He just looked at her. Not saying yes, not saying no. "She's been  
lying to you," he said.  
  
"You think?" Max asked sarcastically.   
  
"They tried to break you, to find out where the others are."  
  
"But I don't know where they are," Max said. It occurred to her that  
this could just be another stage of brainwashing, somehow. Another  
trick to try to convince her to rat out her brothers and sisters.  
  
"I do. And they've been trying to get it out of me," Zack said.  
  
"For six months?"  
  
"Gets old after a while," Zack agreed. "But we're breaking out of  
here, Maxie. Tonight. We have to."  
  
His last words were desperate. "Then tell me something to convince me  
it's you. Something only I would know," Max said.  
  
"If this is a hallucination, that'd be no problem," Zack pointed out.  
  
"Is this a hallucination?" she searched his eyes, but didn't find any  
answers.  
  
"Does it matter?" Zack asked. He glanced toward the door. "Someone's  
coming." Max turned her head to try to hear what he was hearing, but  
couldn't. When she turned again, she was alone in the room.  
  
Her stomach tightened. So this is what it felt like to know they'd  
won. That's she'd lost the battle, the war, and her mind.   
  
But then she heard the footsteps. Someone really was coming.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Jondy sighed and shifted her weight. The line that stretched between  
her and the sector gate was long, and it wasn't moving. She had  
passes, but she should have bypassed through the woods, she thought.  
Such things were always clear in retrospect. She'd thought playing by  
the book would set the journey off on the right foot. Could have been  
there by now, she thought.  
  
Horns honked furiously behind her and she heard some shouting. If  
there was a riot, it would probably distract the sector police enough  
that she could slip past the checkpoint. She'd been thinking about  
pretending to give up on the line and head back, but she also thought  
it would attract attention.  
  
A spray of gravel flew from the tires of the queue-jumper. Jondy  
turned to look as it braked to a hard stop. She recognized the blue  
vehicle at once, even as the window motored down to reveal Logan Cale  
in the driver's seat. She set her features and whipped her head to  
look away from him, staring at the sector police as though she could  
dissolve them with her eyes.  
  
"You look like your brother when you pout," Logan said, his voice  
gentle.  
  
"Nice of you to see me off, but I know you had other plans, so..."  
Jondy let her voice trail off. The sector police finished searching  
the van at the front of the line, so traffic inched forward.  
  
"I'm coming with you," Logan said.   
  
Something brushed against her and she turned to see him standing  
there. "Got your seven-league boots working again," she remarked.  
  
He almost smiled at her description of the exoskeleton. "Yeah," he  
said.   
  
They shared the look for a long moment, during which Jondy was overly  
aware that his hand was on her shoulder. "You been on a bike before,"  
she said. It wasn't exactly an invitation, but it would have to do.  
  
"Actually, I haven't," Logan said, with a hint of irony in his eyes.  
  
"There's only one rule," Jondy informed him as he gingerly got onto  
the bike behind her. She revved the engine. "Hang on," she ordered,  
engine screaming as she peeled out of the line. Logan's arms  
tightened around her and she flinched, not fully recovered from her  
earlier gunshot wound. The sector police noticed and started shouting  
as she headed kamikaze into the woods.  
  
The motorcycle bounced down here and there. Jondy struggled to control  
it. She thought this path might have once been a road. There seemed  
to be pavement peeking here and there through the vegetation.  
Definitely a road, she thought as she saw the barrier up ahead. The  
"End of Road" signs hadn't quite faded.  
  
"Uh, Jondy --" Logan sounded worried.  
  
"Just remember what I told you," she commanded through gritted teeth  
as they built up speed. She hadn't thought he could clutch her any  
tighter, but he proved her wrong as she lifted the handlebars at the  
last moment, pulling the bike up. They soared over the cement  
barrier, landing with a hard bounce that knocked the breath out of  
them both.  
  
Jondy whooped and gunned the throttle, checking the rearview mirrors  
as she veered back onto the road, well past the sector checkpoint.  
She turned her head to look at Logan. His face was white. She laughed  
and he managed to smile faintly.  
  
She brought the bike to a hard stop and nudged the kickstand down,  
then turned again. "I thought you were gonna go save the world."  
  
"I changed my mind," he said, blinking as though offended by her  
question.  
  
Jondy just stared at him. "You're crazy," she said.  
  
"No, I think we can safely reserve that adjective for you," Logan  
said, and gave a wild, wicked little laugh.   
  
"How long does it take to get to Gillette?" Jondy asked.  
  
"It's a thousand miles," Logan said.  
  
"Then we're gonna need gas," Jondy said. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Nothing," Logan said, obviously lying because he was braiding her  
hair. "I could just live without having it in my face for the next  
ten hours."  
  
"And here I thought it was so pretty you couldn't resist touching it,"  
Jondy sighed sarcastically. "You know, I've killed men for --"  
  
"Playing with your hair?" Logan finished. "You must be a fun date." He  
pushed the braid over her shoulder. "You ready?"  
  
"Manticore, here I come," Jondy muttered, getting back on the bike.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Max smashed the guard's head into the wall as soon as he opened the  
door. He grunted, but his skull must have been pretty thick, because  
he fought against her. To no avail, of course. Max kicked the tazer  
out of his hand and then relieved him of his key ring. As an  
afterthought, she fished out his handcuffs and fastened his arms  
behind his back.   
  
Max picked up the tazer, turning it over in her hands.   
  
"Please," he whimpered pathetically.  
  
"Don't you want to find out what it feels like?" Max leaned down in  
his face to ask.  
  
He started to tremble, blubbering louder. "Please --"  
  
"Shut up," Max whispered urgently, but he didn't. She'd threatened him  
a little too well and now she was going to have to follow through,  
just to get him to shut up. Her stomach fluttered as she flicked the  
tazer on. The guard yelled, but as soon as she stung him with it, the  
scream was silenced.  
  
Max tucked the weapon into the waist of her pants, so she'd have it if  
she needed it. The keys rattled as she turned them over. They weren't  
labeled. She checked the windows into the cells as she made her way  
down the familiar basement hallway. Empty. Maybe there weren't any  
nomalies left, after the one that had been killed the other day.  
  
She almost passed by the cell at the end of the hall, thinking it  
empty, too, at first glance. Then she saw the figure huddled in the  
corner, arms wrapped around knees, head down. Beaten. Which key, Max  
asked herself, sorting through them. Annoyed, she cut the process  
short and kicked the door from its hinges.  
  
"I knew you'd come." The wobbly voice came from the person in the  
corner of the cell. She recognized the voice before he raised his  
head.  
  
"Zack," Max breathed. "How is it possible?"  
  
"They lied to you," he said.  
  
"But..." Max had the sudden urge to look down the front of her chest  
at the fading scar there.   
  
"You healed yourself," Zack told her. "It's in our blood. You know  
that."  
  
"They said you --" She trailed off. Maybe she shouldn't bring up the  
mind- bending fairy tale they'd told her to try to win her loyalty.  
  
Zack gave her a hard look. "I tried to," he said seriously. "I was out  
of ammo."  
  
Max couldn't help but laugh, but then had to explain herself at Zack's  
wounded expression. "How embarrassing," she said.  
  
"It happens," Zack said. He hadn't changed a bit. "Let's get the hell  
out of here."   
  
They moved silently down the hall. No one crossed their path. The  
halls were almost eerily silent. There was a faint buzzing noise,  
which Max realized came from the surveillance cameras mounted near  
the ceiling. If their escape from custody wasn't news yet, it would  
be soon. It didn't give them much time to work.  
  
Max headed for the stairs and Zack yanked her back. "Did you forget  
the way out?" he demanded. There was an emergency exit at the  
opposite end of the hall and he jerked his head toward it,  
indicating.  
  
"We have to set them all free," Max said.  
  
"We have to save ourselves," Zack informed her.  
  
"You were in that cell because you wouldn't give the others up," Max  
said.   
  
"It's suicide, Max. They don't want to be saved. You'd just be wasting  
your time." Zack held her gaze. He was just as serious as she was.  
And no one could win an argument with Zack. It had never been done.  
She didn't back down.   
  
"The X-7s have been planning to escape," Max said.  
  
Zack jumped slightly, like an electrical charge shooting through him.  
She'd surprised him. "So they say," he started to argue.  
  
Max just turned her back on him and crept silently toward the stairs.  
Behind her, she heard him heave a deep, defeated sigh. He passed her  
to take the lead. Some things didn't change, she thought.  
  
They reached the X-7s dorm without incident. The lack of security  
guards spooked Max, but she tried not to give it too much thought. It  
was a happy coincidence, nothing more. Zack took the key ring from  
her hand and selected the right one, turning it in the lock.  
  
Crossing through the doorway was like stepping ten years into the  
past. Two neat rows of beds, young soldiers pretending to sleep with  
their heads on their pillows and sheets pulled up to their chests.  
Max picked up a chair and shattered the window furthest from the  
door. Closest to the perimeter fence.  
  
Shoulders lifted from mattresses, eyes blinked in her direction.  
"Tonight's the night," she whispered to them. Instantly, they formed  
two straight lines, proceeding to the broken window as though it was  
an airplane evacuation drill.  
  
Zack broke the silence by shattering another window. He had a sour  
look on his face, as though he was disappointed in the X-7s lack of  
imagination, that none of them had broken the window. Half the line  
diverted to the second entrance, and soon Max and Zack stood alone in  
the room.  
  
Cool night air blew in. Max watched as the kids ran for the fence,  
easily vaulting over it. And it was that easy, she thought, as the  
last of them disappeared into the woods. She turned to Zack.  
  
His back was stiff. He was on alert, and when Max glanced toward the  
door, she saw why. Renfro stood there, a sick smile twisting her  
face. She clapped her hands twice, quickly. "Well done," she said,  
approaching them. "After our talk the other day, I'd been debating  
whether a field trip was appropriate for our little ones."  
  
"You let them escape," Zack said.  
  
"Just like you let us escape," Max said, and was aware of Zack's eyes  
on her, questioning. He hadn't known. "Made it kinda easy for them,  
don't you think?"  
  
"They're implanted with tracking devices," Renfro said, as though  
Max's suggestion was absurd.  
  
"At least you learned something," Max said, her tone still wavering on  
the edge of sarcastic.  
  
"Oh, we learned so much from your group," Renfro said, and for a  
second, she almost sounded sincere. "That makes this that much more  
of a tragedy." Predictably, she pulled a gun.  
  
Max was faster with the tazer she'd lifted from the guard. She shocked  
Renfro and the other woman went down hard, gasping. Zack grabbed the  
gun as sirens began to blare through the building.  
  
"Get the others," Max told Zack. He didn't move. "I'll take care of  
her."  
  
Zack held Max's eyes for several seconds. Then he handed her Renfro's  
gun. Max nodded and Zack ran from the room.  
  
"You won't do it, X5-452," Renfro said, then forced a smile.   
  
"But you turned me into a killer," Max pointed out, her voice icy.  
  
"Max," Renfro said. Still not taking her seriously.  
  
Max pulled the trigger and ran after Zack.  
  
_ _ _  
  
They'd gotten into a comfortable pace of riding, stopping to refuel,  
and continuing on. Jondy had to admit that Logan was a good  
passenger. He didn't make demands to eat, rest, or piss, and he  
didn't ask how much longer it would be or whether they were there  
yet.  
  
But they were there, almost. The spotlights from Manticore's watch  
towers cut through the darkness, swinging this way and that. Jondy  
thought she could hear a siren. She was just about to ask whether  
Logan heard it too when he murmured, "I hope we're not too late."  
  
She stopped the bike and pushed it into the trees, camouflaging it as  
best she could with the brush and twigs that were lying around. Now  
that she was here again, she could feel the fear flowing through her.  
She looked at Logan. He was nervous, too.  
  
The lights, bright now from the complex, shut off suddenly. The sirens  
wailed to a stop. Jondy tensed, waiting for something to happen.  
Nothing did. Logan's eyes were on her, waiting for her signal.   
  
"Scared?" she asked him.  
  
"Petrified."  
  
She was impressed by his honesty. "We had some good times," she said   
philosophically. There wouldn't be much to regret if she was  
re-captured, except for the capture itself.  
  
Logan wasn't sure who she meant by "we." But he said, "Yeah," and he  
meant it.  
  
"In case I don't make it out of there..." Jondy began.  
  
He knew how dangerous Manticore was. He didn't need to be reminded.  
Didn't want to think morose thoughts this late in the game. "Don't  
--" Logan interrupted, but she'd never intended to finish the thought  
in words. She leaned over and kissed him, her lips surprisingly soft  
against his. His hands came up, out of surprise, to push her away,  
but she ducked back before he could. "Jondy --" She knew he was in  
love with Max.  
  
"Don't mention it," she said, her eyes on the ground. It had been an  
impulse, a stupid one, but giving in to it was what made her human  
and not a soldier. "Let's do this." She set out for the complex that  
lay just over the hill with long strides.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Zack burst into the X-5 dorm, throwing the door back so hard it  
clanged and bounced back when it struck the wall. "Everybody out," he  
shouted. They'd been preparing to mobilize anyway, thanks to the  
alert siren screaming through the building.  
  
Brin was the first on her feet. "Don't move. That's an order."  
  
"Don't do this, Brin," Zack warned. They were toe to toe, glaring at  
each other. He turned his head and looked to the others, the brothers  
and sisters he hadn't seen since they were children. He raised a hand  
to signal to them and saw some of them move to follow it. The ones  
who'd been left behind.  
  
"You can't tell me what to do anymore, Zack," Brin spat the words at  
him.  
  
"Grow up," Zack suggested.  
  
The lights went out then, plunging the room into darkness. It didn't  
matter; due to their enhanced DNA, they could all see in the dark.  
The siren cut off mid- wail. Zack sensed Max in the doorway. "You do  
that?" he asked her.  
  
She shook her head once.   
  
"Doesn't matter," Zack decided. "Let's move." Brin moved for her gun,  
pointing it at Zack.  
  
"Don't even think about it." Eva's voice, cool as steel, sliced  
through the tension. Her gun pointed at Brin.   
  
"Renfro's dead," Max announced, mostly for Brin's benefit.  
"Manticore's over."  
  
The building rocked then, slightly, side to side. The noise of the  
explosion reached them seconds later. "Sounds like someone agrees,"  
Zack added.  
  
"Sounds like someone's using ICBMs," Trev, who was standing behind  
Eva, announced.   
  
"How archaic," Max retorted. Standing closest to the door, she glanced  
down the hall and saw fire approaching. More bombs exploded from  
overhead. "We don't really have time to discuss it."  
  
"Go! Go!" Eva shouted, because no one was moving. They were caught up  
in this drama, struck by indecision. Stay or go. Once the order was  
given, their decisions were made. After all, these were the ones  
who'd been too slow or too unlucky to get out in '09, and spent the  
intervening years wondering what the world was like out there. Her  
siblings followed her order. Just like the X-7s, they hit the ground  
running, scattering into the woods. That left the four   
stubborn ones in the room. "Zack," Eva shouted, another order.  
  
"We have an obligation to defend --" Brin stated.  
  
"You've lost," Eva said. Her voice was sharp, strong. As though the  
nine-year- old had returned to overtake the soft-voiced soldier she'd  
become. "You can choose to come with us, or come as a prisoner of  
war, but you're not staying here."  
  
"In a couple seconds, there's not gonna be a here," Zack pointed out.  
Part of the far ceiling collapsed, taking with it a large chunk of  
the floor. Fire licked its way around the door.   
  
Brin raised her gun.  
  
But she wasn't pointing it at them.  
  
Two shots rang out, and Brin hit the floor.  
  
Eva's eyes were wide. "I didn't --"  
  
Zack clapped his hand on her shoulder. "We know." Eva had shot to  
wound, to stop Brin from firing the gun into her own skull, taking  
her own life. Brin had been faster. Blood leaked quickly across the  
floor and Max lingered, shuddering at the sight of her sister's  
sightless eyes, staring at the ceiling.  
  
Eva went through the window. Zack paused before he, too, dropped.  
"Max," he said.  
  
"Right behind you," Max promised, bending down press Brin's eyelids  
down. She heard Zack hit the ground. But then she heard someone  
behind her. She turned, expecting to see Renfro standing there like a  
horror movie demon, risen from the mostly-dead to get in a parting  
shot.  
  
But it was Logan in the doorway, his skin blackened from the smoke of  
the burning building. "Max," he said.  
  
"I'm hallucinating again," Max breathed. Maybe it was the smoke. Or  
maybe none of this was real. Maybe she was still locked up in the  
basement.   
  
"Building's clear!" A female voice shouted from the hall.  
  
"This isn't real," Max said, her voice rising.  
  
"Max," Logan said. He'd thought when he saw her again, he'd  
immediately go to her and throw his arms around her. But he was  
stunned. He couldn't believe it was her, after months of being  
convinced that she was dead. He took a step, reached for her. But she  
was looking through him as though he wasn't there.  
  
Calmly she went to the window and climbed out, dropping easily to the  
ground. She paused to look back, but of course Logan wasn't there.  
He'd never been there. Max ran for the perimeter.  
  
Jondy stepped into the X-5 dorm. "What're you waiting for?" she  
demanded.  
  
"Max," Logan choked, overcome by the smoke in the room.  
  
Jondy glanced around. No Max. Just Brin, dead in the middle of the  
floor. She felt something twist inside her. Another sister dead. But  
there wasn't time for that. Fresh air poured in through a broken  
window, feeding the growing fire. Logan was fighting for air. Jondy  
put her arm around him just as he started to pass out from lack of  
oxygen, dragging him over to the window.   
  
She couldn't just throw him out and hope he'd be okay when he hit the  
ground. He was murmuring nonsense, only half-conscious. Civilians  
were a pain in the ass, Jondy thought, lifting him over her shoulder  
and cautiously climbing out, her feet finding purchase between the  
bricks that made up the building. She reached for the drainpipe,  
thinking to climb down, but it was hot from the fire and she   
burned her hand.   
  
Then something else exploded and they both fell.  
  
_ _ _  
  
Zack had realized Max wasn't right behind him as she'd promised to be,  
and he waited for her. When she finally appeared, he grabbed her hand  
so they wouldn't become separated. They ran, not turning back to see  
the final ruin of the project that had created them.  
  
It seemed like they walked miles in the woods. "Zack, do you have any  
sense of direction?" Max demanded, then stopped, looking sharply into  
the trees.  
  
Zack tugged at her hand. "We have to keep moving."  
  
Max broke away from him, moving all right, but with purpose, deeper  
into the woods. Zack sighed at her eternal stubbornness, but followed  
her.   
  
"This is my bike." Max was frowning even as she ran loving hands over  
the smooth metal.  
  
It didn't make any sense to Zack. "Road's over there," he reported,  
glad they'd finally located it.  
  
"It was real," Max said, straightening up, her eyes wide with alarm.  
"Zack, I have to go back there."  
  
He blocked her path with his body. "You can't."  
  
"But Logan --" Max saw the tension shoot through Zack's body when she  
said the name, and he opened his mouth to protest. But he didn't say  
anything, focusing behind her.  
  
"Get down," Zack ordered. "Someone's coming." She didn't move, so he  
grabbed her arm to try to pull her out of sight, but it was useless.  
No one could make Max do something she didn't want to do. He just  
hoped this wouldn't lead to her standing there like an idiot while a  
soldier still loyal to Manticore shot her. Like last time.  
  
"Logan!" Max screamed.  
  
Zack looked back. It really was the civilian.  
  
"I thought... I didn't...how...?" Max didn't even try to make the  
words make sense. They didn't matter, as she bounded across the space  
between them. She threw her arms around him, and he was warm and  
alive and real. Max kissed him, and he kissed her back. Reunited at  
long last.  
  
"So, Zack, good to see you," Jondy said awkwardly, averting her eyes  
from the very private moment being enacted right in front of them.  
  
"Jondy," he nodded civilly toward her. But he put out his arm and she  
accepted it, moving in close for a brotherly hug and kiss on the  
cheek. "You shouldn't be here."  
  
"I never thought I'd see you again," Logan murmured to Max, still  
holding her. He wasn't ever going to let go.  
  
"You made it out," Jondy said. "That's what counts."   
  
_ _ _  
  
Epilogue  
  
Manticore burned. No one came to put the fire out, and the orange  
light was visible from the top of Devil's Tower, the rock formation  
several miles from the military site.  
  
Logan looked at Max, because he wasn't going to look down at the  
ground, thousands of feet below. "You okay?"  
  
"I will be," she said, her expression dark for a second as she thought  
about the past. "It's going to be different, knowing it's gone."  
  
"It's all going to be different," Logan said, thinking of Ned, the X-3  
leader of the May 22 terrorist group. Or maybe he'd changed his mind  
after hitting Manticore. They'd find out when they got back to  
civilization.  
  
"I still want to know how you two hooked up," Max said, looking from  
Logan over to Jondy, who was sitting on the very edge of the cliff  
with her feet dangling down.  
  
"She broke into my house," Logan began.  
  
"Sounds familiar," Max smiled. "She hasn't said much."  
  
Neither has Zack, Logan thought, glancing at the other man, who was  
standing away from all of them. Hovering protectively. "She's  
processing."  
  
"You know more about my little sister than I do," Max said, meeting  
Logan's eyes. "I love you so much," she said, unable to avoid the  
subject or keep the words from spilling out. "Sometimes I think it's  
the only thing that kept me going in there. And you never gave up on  
me."  
  
Except he had, hadn't he? That would be a secret he kept with him to  
the grave. He'd have saved her so much pain if he'd refused to  
believe them when they told him she was dead; if he'd refused to  
believe what his own senses insisted on when he held her those months  
ago. He kissed her, because he couldn't tell her those things.  
  
"They keep it up and their lips are going to fall off," Jondy  
muttered.  
  
"Hey, I heard that," Max called, breaking away from Logan. She went to  
stand over where Jondy was sitting. "I can't believe you took my  
bike. I should kick your ass for that."  
  
"I'd like to see you try," Jondy challenged, but she was grinning.  
  
"I don't think you wanna take her up on it, Max," Zack cautioned.  
  
"Don't tell me she beat you, too?" Max teased Zack, sharing a  
conspiratorial smile with Jondy. Then she turned serious. "I'm glad  
you're here."  
  
"I'm glad you're safe," Jondy echoed.  
  
"Sun's coming up," Zack reported.  
  
"We've got all the time in the world," Max said. And it was the  
truth.  
  
  
  
END. Thanks :) 


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